Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Rise and Fall
by Naruto-Superman4
Summary: A month after Yubel, Jaden's finally ready to graduate and look for people in need of help. But all of a sudden, there's someone new about, someone who wants the game of Duel Monsters to go their way. Once this person's done with him, Jaden must now pick up the pieces of his shattered Deck and try to bounce back as he faces his greatest challenge yet.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: A month after the Yubel incident, Jaden's not feeling so great. After hurting all his friends, the last thing he wants is for them to suffer again because of him, which might happen if they find out what he's become. But they're all in for it, because there's someone new about, someone who wants the game of Duel Monsters to go their way. Once this person's done with him, Jaden must now pick up the pieces of his shattered Deck and bounce back as he faces his greatest challenge yet.

Rating: T

Things of Note: Tyranno Hassleberry's name will be changed to Kenzan Hassleberry. There will be a mixing of both the English and Japanese phrases. The cast of GX will definitely appear obviously, along with one or two characters from the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, namely Yugi and Kaiba. Also, there will be a bit of mixing between the GX anime and manga continuities. This Fanfic may also be somewhat AU. By the way, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

Chapter 1 - _Emergence_

The sun shone brightly on an island located a good distance away from the mainland. On this island, there was a school called Duel Academy, where young Duelists trained to become great. One such person enrolled in this school was Jaden Yuki, who had risen against all odds in multiple situations and emerged victorious. Through the example he set, Jaden had brought about change at Duel Academy, where lower-ranked students of his dorm, Slifer Red, were mocked for being lowest on the totem pole by their higher-ranking peers. Ignoring all of it, Jaden nonetheless prevailed against incredibly powerful foes such as Kagemaru, the Light of Destruction and Yubel, who had come to share Jaden's soul.

Jaden sat alone in his room in Slifer Red. Most of the other students who used to share this dorm with him had either been promoted to higher-ranking dorms, as was the case with some of his closest friends, or dropped out of the Academy altogether, leaving Jaden the only Red student. Not that he particularly cared. As a third year student, Jaden had a lot of free time, which he unfortunately chose to spend in the same way: sitting around his dorm room, doing absolutely nothing. He only really went outside his dorm when he had classes, and even then, he still felt the same way. Not about classes; Jaden had never cared much for classes or studying throughout his tenure at Duel Academy, and now that he was in his second and final semester of his third and final year, he sure as hell wasn't going to start now. He liked Red, and he liked being where he was, so Jaden really didn't care much about getting good grades. Unless the Academy needed saving from evil forces that were out to commit terrible acts for nefarious purposes, Jaden really wasn't interested.

Which was exactly why Jaden spent all of his remaining days in his dorm room: unless he sensed a presence, Jaden was hardly seen outside his dorm, except when he had to go to the bathroom, which was never within his own dorm room. Only then would people get a glimpse of the former life-of-the-party type who had done a sudden one-eighty and become the Academy's most well-known recluse. It had all happened earlier in the year during the Yubel incident, with Jaden's formerly happy-go-lucky outlook on life severely tainted by the horrific mass murders he'd committed in an alternate dimension after submitting to his dark side when he thought his friends had died. He'd been in a different dimension because he'd been desperately searching for his good friend Jesse Andersen, who had disappeared after a two-on-one Duel alongside Jaden against Yubel.

Jaden had blamed himself for Jesse's disappearance. While searching for him, Jaden had become obsessed, neglecting his friends, causing a rift between him and them, culminating in them being sacrificed by Brron, the Mad King of Dark World to create the powerful Super Polymerization card. In his grief, Jaden had turned to darkness, becoming the powerful, dark entity known as the Supreme King, a darkness that Jaden had had to force himself to conquer in order to save everyone and stop Yubel. In a way, Jaden supposed, he had also saved Yubel from herself. All this had harshly impacted Jaden, turning him cynical. He'd stopped going out with his friends and had become a shut-in. His friends had all tried to get him to come out and spend time with them, but Jaden just wasn't interested anymore in things that used to get him raring to go, like playing Frisbee, eating at the Academy's food court, and best of all, a good Duel.

Despite their best efforts, Jaden remained a recluse. His friends, who had tried so desperately to get him to come out and spend time with them like before had stopped trying, admitting that their attempts were in vain and ultimately deciding that moving on would be a much more worthy endeavor. Oddly enough, Jaden still considered them his friends, even though he refused to spend even an ounce of time with them. There were a few reasons for this: except for Syrus, the majority of his friends had no idea of what he'd done as the Supreme King, and Jaden just couldn't bring himself to face them after all he'd done. Besides, how would they react if they found out he'd been a despotic mass murderer? Telling them the truth would only hurt them, and he didn't want to do that again.

Furthermore, upon returning to Duel Academy, Jaden had had to face down a few threats from rogue Duel Monsters. Some had tried to destroy the world, others had tried to take it over, but no matter what their aim was, Jaden had stopped them at every turn. They'd been minor threats, but there was always the possibility they could use his friends against him and hurt them, and Jaden refused to take that chance. Besides, even if he told them and they took it well, what if they thought they should try to help him and try to _Duel _one of these threats only to lose? They'd come to harm, and Jaden was _not _willing to put them in harm's way again.

So to recap, Jaden avoided his friends and isolated himself from them because he felt he couldn't face them again after hurting them so much and bringing them back into his life would only endanger them. By driving them away and keeping them at an arm's length, Jaden was protecting them from being hurt, both by outside forces and from himself too, even though it made him miserable. There was no denying how unhappy he was; living in isolation, Jaden was inactive, bored, depressed and lonely.

The loneliness was the worst of all; even though he knew what he was doing was for their own good, Jaden missed his friends _terribly_; voluntarily staying away from them made him pine for them even more. He'd give _anything_ for Syrus' usual nervousness and attraction to the Dark Magician Girl, Chazz's dickish confidence, Kenzan's endearing habit of calling him 'Sarge,' Blair's delightful cheeriness and the usual antics of the Rhodes siblings; usually Atticus would embarrass Alexis by either revealing some humiliating secret about her or just acting like a goof while calling himself the Master of Love and setting up an elaborate scheme to get Jaden and Alexis together to be a couple. But their safety was more important than his happiness whether Jaden liked it or not. If he missed them, too bad; he had to protect them, and avoiding them was the best way to do that. But every time Jaden reminisced about his friends, he sank deeper and deeper into loneliness, wishing he'd never allowed himself to lose control and kill over fifty thousand people.

But he had, and thus he did, and he had nobody to blame but himself. The first few days after he got back from the alternate dimension when he still showered, Jaden would look in the mirror at his reflection and admonish himself for what he'd done earlier in the year. Of course, when he did this, the man in the mirror admonished him back, as if to say, "Hey, this is _your _fault too, buddy," and that was true; Jaden had been the one to cause his friends to be sacrificed, and though his friends being sacrificed was Brron's doing, they never would've been sacrificed if Jaden hadn't led them into the alternate dimension, and _that _never would've happened if he'd been able to rescue Jesse when the latter sacrificed himself so that everyone else could get back to their own world, and _that _never would've happened if Jaden had never sent Yubel up in that space capsule to be bombarded by cosmic rays that messed her up in the head and caused her to take revenge on him.

All of it was his own fault, and since he only had himself to blame, that was exactly what Jaden did. Over the first week of being back, the self-recriminations became more and more scathing and before he knew it, Jaden had become a bitter self-loathing mess. Eventually he grew tired of hating himself in the mirror, so he kept to his bedroom. Halfway through the second week, Jaden had ultimately stopped showering. He still went to the bathroom to relieve himself though, and whenever he washed his hands, he'd inevitably look up in the mirror and the bad feelings would flow. During the third week, he gradually stopped doing things he used to do that brought him joy, like playing video games. He even stopped doing things necessary for day-to-day life; he no longer got up in the morning to change clothes and neglected his hygiene. By the time the fourth week was half over, Jaden's loneliness and self-loathing had reached the point where he stopped eating, and while he was self-aware enough to realize his negative feelings towards himself were the cause, he _still _did nothing about it. So now the disheveled, skinny seventeen-year-old had resigned himself to this boring, lonely life of day-to-day separation. Recently he'd taken to lying in bed above the covers. As with most days, this one was slow.

Jaden turned over in his bed: goddamn it, life was so _boring._ He felt suddenly like he was being watched. He turned onto his side, supporting himself with his elbow, to see a dark shape standing over him, and then turned back over when he realized it was only Yubel.

"You need to get out," she urged. "You can't keep staying in here all the time. It's not good for you."

Jaden turned over again to face her, looking at her as if she were odd. "Since when do you care so much about my social life?" he inquired.

"What I _care _about," retorted the spirit, "Is your well-being, which you're poorly maintaining. Life isn't meant to be lived like this."

Jaden ignored her and turned back over. Whenever Yubel insisted that he needed to get out more, he'd always sternly refused, claiming he didn't want to. He'd overlooked her actions and given her a chance, placing her three cards containing her three forms into his Deck, keeping the promise his past life had made to her to always keep her by his side. But he was hurting himself by laying in bed all day and not taking care of himself, and Yubel didn't like it one bit, because while Jaden was mainly hurting himself, he was hurting her as well, even though she existed for the purpose of taking pain on Jaden's behalf, and would do so with a willingness that would make most people squirm with discomfort, she still had _feelings _after all, and whether Jaden realized it or not, he was hurting them. Yubel was his guardian spirit; she was tasked with protecting him, and right now, she was failing. She didn't care whether or not he showered though, because hygiene wasn't a basic human need. But _food _was and always would be, and if Jaden kept up the way he was, he'd end up starving and wasting away to nothing.

"I _know _you're trying to atone for your actions," she said, making the concern in her voice evident, "But you can't live like this; you're hurting yourself, and when you hurt yourself, you hurt me too. I have a sacred duty to protect your well-being but you're not letting me do it!"

"That's enough!" Jaden said curtly, and in a tone that told Yubel that she'd spoken for long enough and that he wasn't in the mood. "I'm not going out, Yubel, and that's final. There's no need to."

"I'd say there is," she continued, ignoring Jaden's sternness as much as she could. She treaded carefully when trying to convince him to take better care of himself, and always tried to stay on his good side, even though Jaden had told her over and over again that he would never overlook what he'd done. Strangely, Yubel kind of enjoyed being told off, mainly because of her masochistic nature. She admitted to herself that she loved it when Jaden was stern with her. Truly, her love for him was twisted. And also currently unrequited, since Jaden had told her that he didn't feel the same way about her that she did about him; even though he and the Supreme King were the same person, Jaden told her that seeing the origins of them being together felt like someone else's memories, not his. But Yubel didn't mind too much; even though Jaden was only the reincarnation of the Supreme King and wasn't exactly the King himself, Yubel believed that Jaden would come around eventually. He just needed some time. But that didn't mean she'd stopped caring for him. She'd never do that. "You're not getting any exercise," she said, simply for the sake of having something to say to convince him. "Your body's suffering for it, and…"

"Stop right there," Jaden interrupted. Yubel quieted somewhat eagerly; even though she knew she was getting on his bad side, she stillgot a strange kick out of Jaden putting her in her place; it emphasized the fact that he was the master and she was there to serve him. Yes, that was the reason. Yubel tried to hide her dirty excitement as Jaden turned over to tell her off.

Jaden meanwhile, had had it up to the neck with her constant nagging. "You don't get it, Yubel. I became something terrible and inhuman; I ended lives and ruined others! I'm no better than the likes of Hitler or Stalin, so don't try to get me to move because of some bullshit like concern over my health! Also, on a side note, you're not my mother, so don't try to be."

"I may not be your mother, but that doesn't mean I don't have your best interests at heart!" Yubel snapped, ignoring how good she felt. "I want you to be healthy! You _need _to eat! You're neglecting your basic needs, and if you don't do something about it soon you'll never go back to being as healthy as the person you once were!"

"Shut _up!_" Jaden shouted at her. Yubel quieted once again. _Shit,_ she thought. She always enjoyed irritating him a little, but she knew getting him mad like this was going too far. As much as she enjoyed being told off by him, it wasn't worth this, and while she didn't look the type to be cowed by anyone, Yubel was easily intimidated when she made her master angry.

"Listen here," said Jaden, sternly and angrily. "I made it so that I'd _never _go back to the person I once was when I _turned into the Supreme King and slaughtered millions, _so just _shut up _about wanting me to be as healthy as the person I once was; I will _never _be that healthy again." Yubel's brow shot up. She could tell Jaden wasn't referring to his body.

Jaden's face softened into its familiar miserable expression. "Besides," he added, "I don't belong here anymore."

"What?" Yubel asked, surprised. "What are you saying?"

"Think about it," Jaden explained, "I can do things other people can't. I can see Duel Spirits, resist mind control and generate wind when I Summon a monster. I'm not _normal_ anymore Yubel, and I never will be." Jaden looked downcast. Even though he'd spoken to Yubel with a certain striking harshness, his tone towards her now was softer. "I have a responsibility to everyone I care about now," he said forlornly. "I have to keep them safe, and part of that is keeping them safe from _me_. Believe me, I'd like nothing more than to spend some time with Sy and the bunch, but I just wouldn't find any joy in it anymore." He turned over and stared at the wall. "I just wouldn't."

"I don't believe that," Yubel countered, "I know you miss them Jaden, and that it's hard for you to push them away even though you feel letting them in would hurt them again. But it won't, trust me. They miss you just as much as you miss them."

"Please stop," Jaden begged. Yubel quieted once again as he turned back over in his bed. "I just don't want to, okay?"

But Yubel wasn't giving up that easily. "Take out your Deck and look at it please," she insisted.

"Why?"

"Just do as I ask."

Hesitantly, Jaden obliged her. "What about them?" he asked.

"Remember what it felt like to look at those cards for the first time," said Yubel. "Remember the feelings that those pictures inspired in you when you first laid eyes on them."

Jaden's eyes gleamed with nostalgia. "I remember when Koyo-san first gave me this Deck," he said softly. "I was just a little kid, and he just gave it to me out of the blue, entrusting me with it, saying he wanted me to have it."

"Because he probably knew you'd have fun with it," Yubel added. "Now, take a look at Winged Kuriboh in particular."

Again, Jaden obliged. "It's the one card Koyo _didn't _give you, remember?" Yubel asked.*

*Again, like I said, I'm mixing the manga and anime continuities.

"Yeah," Jaden responded, his voice a whisper.

"Who was it that gave you that card?" Yubel asked, although since she had access to Jaden's memories, she already knew the answer. Jaden however, did not know this.

"The person who I admire," Jaden acknowledged. "A living legend. Someone who's the best at what he does."

"Say his name," Yubel insisted.

"Yugi Muto." Jaden suddenly twitched a little; saying Yugi's name was… _doing _something to him. He felt something familiar, something he hadn't felt in a long time: an urge to confront someone and let his cards do the talking.

"What was your lifelong goal before… me?" asked Yubel, feigning ignorance of Jaden's lifelong ambitions.

Jaden's eyes gleamed with recognition. "I wanted to become the next King of Games," he murmured softly.

"Do you still want to?"

Jaden kept looking at Winged Kuriboh. "I'm not sure," he admitted.

"Well," said Yubel, "You won't find out by just sitting around here all day. Get up and go outside and do something. Even if it's only just _watching_ a Duel, it's better than sitting around here, waiting for the next doomsday threat." Jaden looked at her curiously, and then Yubel hit him with her finishing statement. "Don't do it for your friends," she advised. "Do it for you, because you love doing it, and because you _still _want to be the best at it."

Jaden looked at his cards that bore the depictions of iconic-looking heroes that he'd admired since childhood. He had to admit, Yubel had a point: he used to _love _Dueling. He had said it himself that it had even been his _life. _So what was he still doing here? If he still loved to Duel, shouldn't he be going outside and doing it?

Jaden pocketed his cards and stood up. Walking over to another corner of his darkened unlit room, he stood over a desk supporting a lone Duel Disk. Would he Duel today? Jaden mulled it over. Perhaps he would start today, and he would try to get over all that had happened to him and those he loved. Because now that he was remembering what had made him the person he used to be, he was remembering all that had made him happy: good friends, good Duels, and good times to be shared by all, except Chazz who was a snooty rich asshole, but for the most part, there were good times to be shared by plenty. Strapping the Disk to his left arm, Jaden went to the door to his room and opened it to step out into the light.

Big mistake; while the light was nice, it was also blinding and it hurt his eyes like hell. Jaden groaned as he covered his eyes with his hand, waiting for them to adjust to the sudden influx of photons. "Ahhh, goddamn it," he groaned, "You absolutely suck for this, Yubel."

Yubel grinned; she could give a fuck about his retinas. "Now walk forward," she insisted. Shielding his eyes with one hand, Jaden slowly stepped out into the light, which draped his Slifer jacket in a dull red; months spent in darkness had dulled what was once a lovely crimson into an almost maroon color. Jaden took a moment to notice this, and he felt a little sad acknowledging it.

Jaden exited his room, closed the door, and walked down the staircase in disappointment. There was no one around the Slifer dorm. _What did you expect? _He thought to himself. _You're the only one _in _Slifer Red now, and everybody stopped trying to get you to come out ages ago._

He pulled his school palm pilot out of his pocket; every student had been given one upon their entry to Duel Academy, and they always returned them when they graduated. Jaden switched it on and reviewed his contacts: Alexis Rhodes, Syrus Truesdale, Kenzan Hassleberry, Blair Flanagan and Chazz Princeton. Jaden thought for a moment about calling them, but decided against it. _One bridge at a time, Jay, _he thought, and smiled when he called himself that; Syrus used to call him that for years.

"Don't stand around being nostalgic," Yubel interrupted Jaden's brief moment of recollection. "You'll have plenty of time to do that when you're old and grey. Now get out there and make some memories while you're still young." For the first time in months, Jaden allowed himself a small smile.

He looked at the main building of the Academy. Today he would break his usual cycle of sitting around and doing nothing and he would go and see who was out there. _Ready or not gang, _he thought, _Here I come, back into our lives. _

And with that, Jaden Yuki ran towards the main building, where soon he would see all of his eagerly awaiting friends…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - _Disaffected_

…or so he thought; Jaden stood in the middle of a surprisingly unfamiliar food court, filled with stands and food stations he hadn't seen before. The place was oddly empty; Jaden wrapped his index finger around his chin to try and figure out what was going on. There wasn't any Duel Spirit involved; if there were, he would've sensed it. But it was too strange for anything like this to happen; people didn't just disappear into thin air. Something had to be wrong.

"Syrus!" Jaden called at the top of his lungs, "Alexis! Hassleberry! Where are you guys?!"

He began running around campus. "Blair! Chazz! Seriously you guys, what's going on?! What happened to you guys?!"

"For goodness sakes lad, stop shouting! The office can hear you a mile away!" came a familiar voice. It belonged to a tall blonde man with a ponytail and an Obelisk Blue teacher's uniform: Dr. Vellian Crowler. Dr. Crowler was coming out to see who was making such a racket, when he turned a corner and his jaw dropped. "_Jaden Yuki?"_

"Oh," said Jaden, when he turned around to see him. "Hey Crowler."

Dr. Crowler regained his composure immediately. "That's _Dr. _Crowler to you, boy," he said with authority. But then his voice took a casual turn; it was good to see Jaden out of his room after all this time, and Dr. Crowler couldn't resist the urge to make conversation to see how he'd been. "I must admit, I'm surprised to see the Legendary Slifer Red Recluse taking some time out of his schedule to join the rest of the world," he joked. "Tell me old boy, what are you doing out here raising hell for? Not like I don't appreciate you running around this place yelling like the good ol' days, but seriously, what's going on? Are we under attack from rogue Duel Monsters again?"

"Uhhh, no," said Jaden. "Nothing like that. I got tired of staying in my room, so I came out here to try to regain my spark," he added, "You know, with a Duel."

Crowler nodded. "Nothing quite like one of those, eh?" he asked. "But I must say, and forgive me for saying this Jaden, but you've only really appeared when the day needed saving, and I know you used to be quite the socialite here at the Academy, but to see you out here now trying to mingle after so long, it's actually a little… weird." He added that last word with a touch of uncertainty at his word choice, but then nodded with affirmation, confident it had been the right one. "Yes, certainly weird."

Jaden nodded his understanding. "Okay," he said. "But as to what you said earlier, I was _thinking _that something was going on since there's hardly anyone around. It's like everyone's vanished into thin air, except you and me."

Crowler raised a single eyebrow in amusement. "Well, I wouldn't say _that_."

"Why not?" asked Jaden, confused. "Do you know where everyone is, Crowler?"

"It's _Dr. _Crowler, and yes I do," the Head of Obelisk Blue admitted. "No one's disappeared, old boy. It's just that not being around the Academy tends to happen when the entire student body and the teaching staff go on a field trip to Domino City."

"There's a field trip to Domino City?" asked Jaden, his eyes opening wide with excitement. He'd encountered Yugi there once three years ago. "I wish I was there! Why didn't anyone tell me there was a field trip?"

"It was being announced for weeks, Jaden," said Crowler, with an eyebrow raise. "Students had a week left to get their permission slips in by the end of the month, and yours wasn't among those given in. Not that I'd expect you to be interested, what with you not preferring company."

Jaden frowned; this was the first time he'd heard of this field trip, although he admitted that it was his own fault really for not going: back when he had the chance to turn in a permission slip, he was in his room; he wouldn't have been _interested _in the field trip because he was in his state of a perpetually-ruined mood. But now that it had lifted somewhat, Jaden found himself wanting to go to Domino City and be among his friends. Now here he was, just as alone as before, with the exception of Crowler for company. Wait a minute…

"Er, Doctor, I don't mean to be rude, but what are you still doing here while everyone else is on the trip? Domino City sounds like a place you'd want to be."

"Yes, well…" Crowler shifted uncomfortably. "I wanted to go, but so did all the other teachers, and in the end, we all drew straws."

"Ah," said Jaden. "And you unfortunately came up short." He'd added "unfortunately" to soften the blow.

"Indeed," Crowler confirmed. "And so now, here we are."

Jaden looked around the deserted area, noticing all that was different. "Wait, where's the slushie machine?" he asked. "I loved that thing."

"We got rid of it," said Crowler. "Students' tastes changed; they all want coffee now. Not that they're ready for it, if you ask me. Coffee's an adult beverage."

Jaden looked around sadly. "I don't even recognize the food court anymore," he said sadly. He walked over to the unfamiliar furniture that lined the place. "Everything's different, including the benches and tables."

"Well, what did you expect, Jaden?" asked Dr. Crowler. "You disappeared from campus life and became a hermit after what happened a month ago. Everyone tried their best to get you to come out, but you wouldn't. And while you chose to pass the time in your dorm room, things changed around here." He looked at Jaden and imparted a teacher's wisdom: "Look, you can't expect to cut yourself off from the world and expect everyone to wait for you to come back when you feel like it. It doesn't work like that. The world waits for no one Jaden, and if you cut yourself off and stop living in it, it'll move on without you."

Crowler's words hit home. Jaden looked around the vast area of the food court at all the unfamiliar settings. There was nothing he recognized, and it was like being on another planet. He then remembered what he told Yubel back in his dorm room: _I don't belong here anymore. _Those words were much truer now. Jaden turned back to Crowler. "When's everyone getting back?" he asked. "And come to think of it, what _time _is it?" He realized that in his months of brooding, he'd never checked the clock; time hadn't had any meaning for him.

Dr. Crowler checked his pocketwatch. "It's ten-thirty. The ferry left at nine o' clock, and they'll be back at around eight in the evening." He turned on his heel. "I'm sure you'll find something to do in the meantime until everybody gets back," he offered, and with that, he walked off into the entrance to the main building, leaving the Legendary Slifer Red Recluse to wander around the deserted setting like a lost child.

Jaden sat down on a picnic table and sighed. Everyone who he wanted to get back in touch with who he wanted to be here with him now was far away, and now he had to contend with his own company, which wasn't the usual easy breeze it had been anymore. Being alone had never felt like this before. _What was I doing all this time?_ Jaden asked himself. _Now that I'm here, it just seemed like a colossal waste of time. I'm never going to get that month back._

He looked around, depressed. _Well, I've only got myself to blame,_ he thought, _It's my own fault. I had my chance to be on that ferry with everyone else to go to Domino City, but I chose to be in my room._ He spoke to Yubel in particular in his mind. _Why'd you have to convince me to leave my room today?_

_"Because then, you wouldn't know how bad it was, would you?"_ asked the spirit. _"I told you staying cooped up in your room until you graduate was bad for you Jaden, and now you're looking at the consequences. Take a chance to reflect on it,"_ she offered, _"What were you really doing in your room all this time?"_

Jaden laid his chin in his left palm and thought. _I guess my friends wouldn't want to see me,_ he mused, _Especially after all I'd done as the Supreme King and how I'd acted towards them during the search for Jesse._

_"That's bullshit and you know it,"_ Yubel retorted, _"Your friends tried their hardest for weeks to get you to come out, but you pushed them away, telling them to leave you alone. So don't tell me it's because you were on the outs with them."_

Jaden pondered some more. _I feel like I was hiding,_ he explained, _I just don't know what I was hiding _from. _Maybe I was hiding from how I'd feel trying to resume normal life while having all these crazy powers and not fitting in with everyone anymore. Or maybe I was hiding from myself and all the things I didn't want to admit._ He looked up at Yubel. _Like how everything would change after our spirits merged._

_"From my point of view, you seemed to have embraced that change,"_ Yubel opined, _"There wasn't a trace of your old self left. No, I don't think you were hiding. It has to have been something else."_

Jaden took his chin out of his palm. "I think I know," he said. "I was still getting over all that I did as the Supreme King, and I guess I felt that I could heal all my pain by staying in my room, where I could feel comfortable. I needed some time alone, but I had way too much, and now…" his voice trailed off. "Everyone's gone."

_"Relax,"_ said Yubel, _"It's not the end of the world. They're coming back."_

"Well yeah, but they won't _be _back for another…" Jaden paused to calculate. "…nine and a half hours. What the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

_"I don't know,"_ replied the spirit, _"You'll think of something I imagine. Knowing you, you always do."_

Jaden sighed, and got up to walk back to the dorm. His shoulders slumped and he dragged his feet with each step he took. He reached the dorm at eleven o' five; back in the day when he used to go out of the dorm and run to classes, it would take him fifteen minutes to run from the Slifer dorm and the main building. But today, he walked slowly, and thus it took him thirty-five minutes to reach the dorm. But instead of going inside like he expected himself to, Jaden sat down on the steps in front.

_I wonder if I'm doing the right thing by going out and hanging with my friends again, _he thought. _I mean, I could potentially be endangering them if an evil force comes around and wants to Duel somebody. I can't let any of them take that chance against it in case it wins. _Then he shook his head. _No. I can't think like that. I have to be willing to take a chance on them. If I don't, then I'll be saying that I don't trust them to pull through when I'll really need them to, and then they'd _definitely _lose should an evil force come around and try to Duel them. _But then the nagging sensation bit at him. _Should I really do this? _he wondered. _If I open up to these guys, and they want to take on an evil force that shows up, should I let them, or should I keep them in the dark and send them away so I can Duel it myself? God, there's too many questions. _

"Good to see you in the flesh again, Jaden."

Jaden jumped at the sound of another person's voice. He turned and smiled for the second time today when he saw a familiar plump face. "Hey Dorothy," he greeted. "How are things?"

"They're alright," smiled the plump woman. Dorothy worked in the cafeteria, the card shop, and many other places on campus. Jaden couldn't remember them all, but he did remember how they met: she'd been struggling to take a truck of new cards up to the shop and he'd graciously offered to help her. Right now though, two years later, Dorothy still looked as youthful as ever despite her middle age. Professor Banner's cat, Pharaoh, circled her feet, _meowing _as he went.

Dorothy peered at Jaden through her shiny rimmed spectacles. "What's the matter, sweetie?" she asked kindly. "You look lost and lonely, and nobody's seen you ever since you saved everyone from the World of Darkness. Is something wrong?"

Jaden looked back at Dorothy. Could he trust her with his secret? He wasn't sure. "Dorothy," he asked, "If you had isolated yourself because you needed time to heal after you'd done something terrible due to not being yourself at the time, but you took way too much time to heal to the point where you became a complete shut-in for months on end, and by the time you decided to come back out, the world as you know it had changed and everyone you know had presumably moved on, what would you do?" This was only part of Jaden's problem, but he didn't want to spill _all _the beans just yet and risk Dorothy freaking out on him or something. Dorothy, for her part, sat down next to him to rest her weary legs (which Pharaoh was still circling and _meowing _around). "Well," she began, "I actually did have a problem similar to what you're describing, Jaden."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Back when I was a little older than you are now, in about my twenties, I had a friend who developed troubles with alcohol," she explained. "And she just wasn't herself. Going to rehab helped, but she spent so much time there that my friends and I thought she'd never get better. So when she finally got out, she was saddened to find out that they'd moved on without her." Dorothy's eyes misted. "She still had me, but the rest of them had made a new friend to replace her," she murmured softly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Jaden sympathetically. He really felt sorry for Dorothy after hearing her friend's tale. But as it turned out, Dorothy wasn't done. "Well, like you said Jaden, she'd done terrible things. She argued with us over getting the help she needed, so she shouldn't have really been so surprised to found out most of us had moved on without her." She smiled unexpectantly. "But then I met Sheppard, who was so kind to her," she smiled as she recalled Duel Academy's head principal as a strapping twentysomething-year-old. "He promised her that he'd help no matter what, and he gave her a job working here. He took me out on a few dates too, and started seeing each other, and even though that didn't last, he promised he'd never forget about me or her. And indeed he didn't. When he became Chancellor of Duel Academy, he promised me he'd find a way for us to still see each other here. Of course, I managed to land this job myself though." Dorothy smiled broadly, proud of her accomplishment, and Jaden smiled back, in a way-to-go sort of way. Dorothy wrapped up her tale quick. "As time went on, Sheppard encouraged me to start calling up my old friends again to bring her back up to speed with them," she mused. "And that actually went great, and today, she and I still have all our lovely, wonderful friends from back in the day as well as a wonderful new friend we'd made in Sheppard." Dorothy smiled with all her good fortune. "Now what's your trouble, young man?"

Jaden cleared his throat. "Remember when I went nuts trying to get Jesse Andersen back?"

Dorothy nodded. "You were obsessed. I heard from Syrus that you became a completely different person."

Jaden nodded. "Well, the thing is, obsessing over finding Jesse led to all my friends… leaving me," he ended that last part euphemistically, "And I… I just lost it. I became so consumed with grief that… I became this person called the Supreme King."

"Ah," said Dorothy. "_That_ can of worms."

"Wait, you know about it?"

"Yeah Jaden, everyone talked about it after the whole ordeal was over," Dorothy stretched out her fingers to examine her nails. "I hear you did some pretty nasty things."

"I did," said Jaden guiltily. "And when they snapped me out of it, I stopped Yubel, but after coming back I completely shut myself in Slifer Red, thinking I needed time to heal from it all," he said. "Even after a month, this thing still weighs heavily on my mind. Next thing you know, I'm a shut-in who only emerges when the Academy needs saving and by the time I decided to come back out, which was today, I found out that all my friends are miles away on a field trip, and well, I was thinking that maybe I'd try to get back in with them when they get back. But I'm not sure how they'll react to seeing me again."

Dorothy smiled; as much as Jaden had grown and matured, he was still dealing with an ordinary teenage problem. "Look," she said sweetly, "You're worrying about it more than you should be. By this time, I imagine they've forgiven you for the whole Supreme King ordeal. Beating Yubel should've helped win you a few brownie points with them too."

"Yeah, but here's the thing," said Jaden. "I'm also holding a secret, and it's along the lines of where there's something different about me that I'm not sure they'll accept. Being the Supreme King changed me, and because of what I did, I can't enjoy anything anymore. Not even Dueling." Jaden looked around sadly. "And then I went to the food court, I found out that everything has changed. It's not what I remember. I remember a slushie machine. When was that replaced, Dorothy?"

"About two months ago."

"Crap."

"Did you like the slushie machine?"

"Loved it."

Dorothy raised her eyebrow. "You're saying two things Jaden: you're saying that you're worried your friends haven't forgiven you for something you've done at the very beginning of the year, and you're also saying that your world has changed. Those two don't seem very interrelated."

"Well," said Jaden, "I'm worried that they'll have moved on, and by the time I try to get back in with them, it won't work because I'll have been a shut-in for too long."

"That's completely ridiculous, Jaden," Dorothy assured him. "Something like that's nothing to worry about. My advice: talk to them. Go and see them when they get back. If they're still your friends, I'm sure they'll be happy to talk to you and bring you back into their lives with open arms."

"You think so?"

"I know so," said Dorothy. "Remember my little tale? It worked out fine for me." With that, she got up and began to walk away, before turning around and saying one last thing: "Oh, and Jaden: never let simple things like past misdeeds and the passing of time prevent you from trying to be with your friends again, because I'm sure they've missed you a great deal."

"Really?"

"Oh yes," said Dorothy. "They _told_ me they missed you."

"Great," said Jaden, his voice full of relief. "When was this?"

Dorothy's face contracted. "Uhhhhhhh, about a month ago."

Jaden's face fell. That was right after he got back after the whole Yubel incident. "Thanks for the advice Dorothy," he said. Dorothy you're-welcomed him and went on her way. Jaden sat for some more on the steps before going back into his dorm room. He still had eight hours and forty-five minutes to wait before everyone got back from the field trip. He hoped they'd want to see him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, few things about Chapter 3: yes, there will be a Duel in it, so don't worry about that. Second, there are cards in the Duel that don't exist in the TCG; I made them up myself. I assure you though that they aren't broken. Oh, and there's plenty of salty language in this chapter, so for those of you who're faint of heart and don't like hearing teenagers swear their asses off should probably read something else. If you're fine with it, keep reading. If you're not fine with it, then take this to mind: I'm portraying the characters realistically (or trying to) and that includes the things they say. Besides if you think that high schoolers _don't _talk the way Chazz and co. do in this chapter, you'll be disappointed, because they do. Alright, now let's read about some goddamn trading cards.**

**An asterisk (*) denotes a card that does not exist in the TCG and that I have made up. Two asterisks (**) denotes a pre-existing card with an effect that I changed because I didn't like the effect that it had.**

Chapter 3 - _Draw_

"Lexi, wait up!" called Mindy as she and Jasmine ran to catch up with their friend. They were all on a school field trip to Domino City for an afternoon of fun and relaxation. Several students had brought their Decks and Disks with them, and were hoping to challenge some of the locals. Jazz and Mindy were not of this crowd; they were more into shopping than anything else. Alexis however, had challenged some local boys and had just come away with a solid stream of victories under her belt. She was just about to go off and find some more takers when her friends had called out to her. They came up to her running, shopping bags of various sizes lining their arms. "What are you doing?" Mindy asked, her phone already out by the time she'd stopped running.

Alexis shrugged. "Dueling. Winning. You know, same old usual," she said with confidence. Jazz and Mindy beamed at her. "You're such a pro, Lex," said Jasmine. "You should totally go pro instead of studying to be a teacher."

"Oh, I don't know about that," said Alexis. "I like the thought of helping minds grow. It'll also be a challenge for me to adapt to meet the different needs of people," she smiled as she pictured her future career in mind. Mindy, however, decided to take another stab at persuading her otherwise. "But think about all the hot guys that'll totally fawn all over you if you go pro!" she bubbled. Alexis raised a playful brow at her two friends. "Look, if you guys want to go pro, by all means, go pro," she said, "But I'd like to do something a little different with my future. Not everybody who tries to go pro makes it, you know. It's a hard thing to achieve."

"Not for the likes of _moi,_ I'm sure," came the most boastful, arrogant voice that anyone ever heard. Alexis turned around, and immediately shot back a playful retort. "Didn't you learn your lesson as Aster Phoenix's assistant, Chazz?" she asked her fellow third-year Obelisk Blue, who merely waved it aside. "I assure you Lex, the Chazz has only been invigorated with such a pursuit rather than discouraged. Nothing shall stop me from going pro and becoming the next King of Games!"

"Yeah, good luck with that, Princeton," came another voice. Syrus Truesdale, Blair Flanagan and Kenzan Hassleberry came up to them. Blair, by the way, had been the one to sarcastically wish Chazz good luck. Blair continued, "You're not the only one gunning for Yugi Muto's title, you know Chazz. Thousands of Duelists across the globe hope to dethrone Yugi just as much as you do every day."

"Let them try! They'll have to get through _me _first!" came Chazz's overconfident reply. "It doesn't matter _who _tries to dethrone Yugi, because it shall only be _me _who succeeds!" Everyone else who was there took a deep breath and decided to let the matter drop. Chazz had been going on about being the next King of Games for three years straight, and even more so over the past month. Even the most accurate statistics predicting the likelihood of dethroning the world-renowned champion didn't slow him down. Make no mistake, Chazz Princeton was dead-set on usurping Yugi's throne and sitting atop it as king of the mountain. It just didn't occur to him that there were others who were just as capable of the task as he, if not more than.

Syrus decided to take one last swing. "I don't think you'll have it easy Chazz. Remember, Yugi's tough to beat. He won both Duelist Kingdom _and _Battle City you know."

"Big deal!" said Chazz. "I'll give you Duelist Kingdom as proof that Yugi's good, but he only won Battle City because Marik Ishtar did the pussy thing and forfeited. I don't consider that tough to beat."

"You're forgettin', son," chimed in Hassleberry. "Ishtar forfeited for a reason, after all. If he surrendered against Yugi Muto, it's because Yugi most likely had some unstoppable killer move set up to take him down otherwise if he didn't stand down!"

"What kind of unstoppable killer move?"

"I don't know, I didn't see it!"

"Then how do you know he had it?"

"I was assumin'! Knowin' Yugi, he _most likely _had it! I mean, think about it, Yugi _always _has somethin' up his sleeve to get him out of a bind, so why wouldn't he have had one against Marik?"

This went on between the two of them for a while until Alexis placed two fingers in her mouth and blew loudly, silencing them. "C'mon guys," she said, in a half-scold, half-encouragement. "Let's just focus on having some fun today, okay?" Chazz and Kenzan readily agreed, and the six of them decided to walk around town and see the sights (or in Jazz and Mindy's case, see them again). In particular, they visited the pier where Yugi Dueled Strings, where they decided to take a break to rest their weary legs and eat their lunch.

Five minutes afterward, Kenzan placed his hand over his stomach. "Man, I don't feel so good. Shouldn't have eaten that last cheeseburger."

"You've got indigestion," said Blair, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a can of ginger ale which she handed to Kenzan. "Drink this, it'll make you feel better." Kenzan thanked her and began taking gulps. "Slow down!" Blair warned. "If you drink it that fast, you'll only defeat the purpose!" Kenzan took her advice and slowed his pace. He didn't want to end up throwing up.

"So what are we doing when lunch is over?" asked Syrus. "I was thinking maybe we could visit Kaiba Land."

"We can't," said Blair. "It's closed for repairs."

"That doesn't leave much for us to do," said Jasmine.

"Well," said Mindy, "If someone gets out a map and a Sharpie, I'd be more than happy to provide us with circled suggestions of where to go. When I first came to Domino City for my exams, the first thing I did was explore the city and see where all the good stuff was."

"What about taking your entrance exams?" asked Alexis. "Didn't you take those first?" But Mindy waved the question aside. "No. I arrived here a week early, just so that I could sightsee," she explained. "So I had plenty of time to get to where the entrance exams were."

Everyone smiled and went back to eating their lunches, when all of a sudden they heard a loud voice.

"OI YOU! BLAIR FLANAGAN!"

At the mention of her name, Blair turned her head around to face the caller, but immediately regretted it when she was put in a headlock by a girl taller than she was. "I _missed _you, you bastard! 'Ow 'ave you been?"

"I'll be perfectly fine," replied Blair, "When you _let go_ of me."

The girl relented and let go. Blair stood up and took a look at the girl who'd put her in a headlock: she was about three inches taller, about five-foot-seven, with long black hair, mild blue eyes and pale white skin. She was wearing a brown leather jacket over a black T-shirt, complete with blue jeans and open-toed high heels that boosted her one inch up off the ground. Her black hair was at the same time straight but not too straight and curvy but not too curvy. Blair recognized her immediately.

"Ophelia!" she smiled widely as they embraced again, but this time with the added benefit of mutual consent. "How are you? I haven't seen you since I left to take my entrance exams!"

"I've been alright," Ophelia admitted. "An' what about you?"

Blair waved her hand around, showing her the company she kept. "I've been doing great," she said. "This are all my friends: Syrus Truesdale, Alexis Rhodes, Kenzan Hassleberry, Jasmine Bellows and Mindy Taylor."

"Hey! What about me?!" asked Chazz indignantly. "Don't _I _get a mention?!"

"No, not really. I mean, we're not friends_, _so…"

"Oh, you can just suck a _big fat dick, _Flanagan," said Chazz bitterly. He walked up to Ophelia and shook her hand. "The name's Chazz Princeton, commonly known as 'the Chazz.' Perhaps you've heard about me."

"No, sorry. I 'aven't."

"WHAT?! MOTHERF-" Chazz cut himself midsentence. "This is bullshit. This _whole _thing is bullshit," he murmured crossly. He slunk off to the side a bit to sulk as Ophelia introduced herself to everyone else.

"Greetings, everyone. I'm Ophelia Penelope Rayne," she smiled at them mischievously all of a sudden. "The 'Rayne' part means 'queen,' and take note of it, because when I Duel, I go by my last name."

"That's quite a name you have there," said Alexis.

"Thanks. Between all a' us 'ere, it's a name I 'ope to live up to," Ophelia said with a smirk.

"How are you going to live up to it?" asked Syrus. Ophelia looked at him with her mischievous smile. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to beat Yugi Muto an' become the first Queen of Games!"

Alexis was impressed. "Right on," she admitted. "Good for you to try for all the sisters out there." Ophelia rubbed her nose in an attempt at modesty. "It's nothing really," she admitted. "It's just that most people 'o play Duel Monsters are guys, right? So 'ow cool would it be to 'ave a Queen of Games?"

The guys took a moment to give the matter some serious thought. "It _would _be pretty cool," admitted Syrus. "More girls playing Duel Monsters would be a great way to improve the game's rep."

"And I could finally get some of my friends back home to start playing it," agreed Kenzan. "Alright then, count us on board for you bein' Queen of Games!"

"NOT SO FAST!" Chazz erupted from behind Syrus, making the latter jump into Mindy's arms, where he was quickly released. "Are you all forgetting who the number one contender for taking Yugi's title is?" he asked with a scolding in his voice. "I can't believe you people would _actually forget _that _I'm _the one who's going to beat Yugi and _not _this chick!" He turned to Ophelia. "Look, Rayne. You're not the next King of Games. _I _am, alright?" Then Chazz did something unexpected: he spoke seriously. "Look, I'm all for girls joining us guys in on the action. Whatever makes Duel Monsters less of a sausage fest." Chazz then switched back to his usual self. "But I just want you to know _why _exactly your long-held dream won't come true so that you're not crying when it doesn't happen."

"Listen, you shit-brained wanker," Ophelia shot back. "I'm going to be Queen of Games whether you like it or not. And if you think that you could _ever _stand in my way of reaching my goal, think again, because I would beat your posh arse _so _'ard, you'd run cryin' 'ome to your mum, complainin' about 'ow a tough-as-nails British girl beat the shit out a' you!"

"She's feisty," whispered Syrus to Blair. "How do you guys know each other?"

"Childhood pen pals," came the reply. "After that, Skype friends. We even Dueled."

"Well," said Chazz to Ophelia, "I can't have you standing here and insulting me like this, and it looks like the two of us have reached an impasse." He got a glare in his eye. Every Duelist recognized that glare. Ophelia recognized it and pulled out a Deck of cards.

"Well, are you just goin' to stand there, or do you want to 'ave a go?" she asked, daring him to accept her challenge. Chazz cracked all his knuckles on his fingers and then stretched his neck muscles, like how badasses in movies do when they're either about to do their thing or they've just finished doing it. He leaned in close to Ophelia's face so that she could smell the sandwich on his breath as well as his overpriced aftershave. "Prepare to have your ass handed to you, little girl. You're about to learn one of the hardest lessons in Duel Monsters: you fuck with the Chazz, you get your shit _wrecked._"

Chazz walked over to his backpack and pulled out a shiny, streamlined contraption, with a blue circle in the middle of it, and three dark Monster Card Zones on the retracted wing: Duel Academy's standard-issue Duel Disk. Chazz wasted no time in putting it on. He turned around to see everyone marveling at what Ophelia was using: her Duel Disk was very similar to his. "So," he observed, "You go to our school."

"That I do," said Ophelia. "I'm a freshman. I was 'opin' to surprise Blair with the fact that I got in for some time now."

"So you were waiting all that time?" asked Syrus. "That couldn't have been much fun."

"I'm about to jam my foot up your ass if you don't move out of the way, Truesdale!" warned Chazz. "I have some _serious _ass-kicking to do today!"

Ophelia looked into Syrus' eyes. "Better get out of the way love," she advised. "I got lessons to teach."

"Right," said Syrus, as he stepped back in with the crowd about to watch the showdown between Chazz Princeton and Ophelia Rayne.

"Remember!" Ophelia called out. "Whenever I Duel, I go by my last name!"

"Absolutely!" called Syrus. "But _why?_" Ophelia smiled mischievously at him. "Just 'umor me please!" she turned to face Chazz. "You ready, wanker?"

"What do _you _think?" replied Chazz rudely. Both players shuffled their Decks, placed them where they needed to be, and then drew their opening hands. Their Life Point counters lit up, showing that each Duelist had a full set of 8000.

_"Oh my God," _moaned Chazz loudly enough to be heard as he stretched while holding his cards. "_Such _a good opening hand…"

"Oi! Quit your boasting!" snapped Rayne. She shook her head. _Honestly,_ she thought, _'Ow could anyone be _this _much of a knob'ead?_

"Rayne!" called Syrus from the sidelines. "Never mind what Chazz is saying, he does that to all of us! It's his way of getting inside your head!"

"Okay, shut the fuck up now, Truesdale!" called Chazz.

"Suck my _dick_, Chazz!" Syrus retorted before sitting down. Rayne looked at the people before her. _They really don't seem to like this Chazz bloke,_ she thought. _And 'e doesn't look like 'e likes them, either. 'Ow are these people friends? 'O could 'ave _possibly _brought these folks together? _She drew a card, then selected one from her hand and played it. "I'll Set a monster face-down and end my turn."

"Are you _fucking _serious?" asked Chazz incredulously. "I can't believe this! You're about to get _ass-rammed _by the _Chazz, _and _all _you can do is fucking _Set?" _

"Just _go, _arse'ole!" shouted Rayne.

"Fine!" said Chazz. "I will!" He drew his card. Unfortunately for him now, a small yellow creature sporting bikini briefs and an annoying falsetto voice appeared next to his head.

"Come on boss, you _gotta _play me!" called Ojama Yellow. "You gotta, you gotta, you gotta! I've been cooped up in your Deck Box _all _day, and Armed Dragon really hates sharing stories!"

Chazz just stayed quiet. _It's like a bee, _he told himself, _If you don't engage it, it won't bother you. _

"Hey Boss, are you listening to me?" said Ojama Yellow. He tried waving in Chazz's face to get his attention, but Chazz kept staring coolly ahead as if he didn't see Ojama Yellow at all. Fortunately for them both, Ojama Yellow gave up and disappeared. "Alright!" called Chazz, "I'm about to transport everybody back in time to another era!" He picked a card from his hand and held it, ready to play it. "'Twas a simpler time, back then. A time when men were men and…"

"For fuck's sake, just fucking _go!_" snapped Jasmine. Pretty much _every _guy there was surprised. And then there was Chazz's reaction.

_"HEY!" _he called out loudly. "No interrupting me! If you keep doing it, I'll only take longer!" Everyone groaned. "_Anyway,_" Chazz continued, "As I was saying before the crowd rudely interrupted me, it was a simpler time when men were men, and X-Head Cannons were Summoned in Attack Mode."

He laid the card on his Disk and the monster appeared.

**X-Head Cannon (LIGHT):**

**Level 4**

**[Machine]**

**ATK/1800 DEF/1500**

"And now," said Chazz, in a voice that suggested that he was walking Rayne through a tutorial, "This is the part where your Defense monster sucks mechanical bone." He thrust his fist forward. "X-Head Cannon, fuck up her face-down!" He paused. "…person."

The mechanical monster aimed its cannons at Rayne's face-down monster. Huge balls of energy emerged at the tips and grew bigger. Then they shot out, seemingly frying the face-down monster Rayne had played.

"Reveal!" called Rayne, "_Dark Reflector!_"

**Dark Reflector* (DARK):**

**Level 3**

**[Fiend/Effect]**

**Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed. If this card is attacked by an opponent's monster with higher ATK than this card's DEF, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.**

**ATK/ 600 DEF/ 900**

"Dark Reflector 'as an effect!" said Rayne. "When it would be destroyed by battle, it ain't destroyed!"

Blair raised an eyebrow and muttered to herself with nostalgia in her voice: "Different cards, same strategy…"

"And that's not all!" said Rayne. "When Dark Reflector's attacked by a monster with 'igher Attack than 'is Defense, the difference is dealt to the opponent as damage!"

"_What?!" _exclaimed Chazz as his Life Points dropped to 7100. "God dammit!"

Blair was impressed. "I must admit," she said, "I've Dueled her before, and just when it seemed she was using the same old strategy that she used to, she turns around and scores a hit without even having to do anything! Smart play!"

"What kind of card is that?" asked Syrus. "What kind of effect does Dark Reflector have?"

Alexis thought about it. "I keep thinking that it's somehow an inversion of the classic piercing effect," she mused. "Basically, it's meant to discourage the opponent from attacking with any high-powered monsters because they'd only be hurting themselves."

Blair's brow creased. "Thing is though, I've never seen that card in Rayne's Deck before."

"Maybe she changed it?" suggested Kenzan. "I mean, maybe she wanted to surprise you with a Duel Bastion, so that you could see how far she's come."

"Well," came the reply. "I'm seeing it."

"Yeah, well see this!" countered Chazz. "From my hand, I activate the Spell Card _Ojama-Rama!_"

**Ojama-Rama*:**

**Quick-Play Spell Card**

**Activate when you take damage: Special Summon 1 "Ojama" monster from your hand or Deck for every 300 damage you took. The "Ojama" monsters Special Summoned by this effect must have different names.**

"So _now,_" said Chazz, "Meet Ojamas Black, Green and Yellow!"

**Ojama Black/Green/Yellow (LIGHT):**

**Level 2**

**[Beast]**

**ATK/ 0 DEF/1000**

Three very weird-looking mutants, each wearing a red bikini bottom appeared on Chazz's side of the field in Defense Position. Rayne surveyed the new arrivals. "Wow," she said, unimpressed. "For a guy 'o acts all tough and whatnot, imagine my surprise when I see that you enjoy playing with tiny little men in bikini briefs. Big eye-opener."

Syrus and the gang burst out laughing as Chazz turned bright red. "Fuck you!" he yelled.

"_Oh my God," _laughed Syrus, "_That _was _awesome!" _

"Chazz buddy, you shouldn't have been afraid to tell us!" teased Kenzan. "We would've accepted you!"

"Yeah Chazz!" called Mindy. "Maybe after the Duel, you can take Jazz and I shopping!"

"Shut the _fuck_ up and die, _all _of you!" roared Chazz. He'd gotten a little angry.

"Hah!" called Rayne. "Serves you right for your cocky sod be'avior before!"

"Aw yeah?" snapped Chazz back angrily. "Well _now _you're going to get it, because I'm entering my second Main Phase and activating _Ojama Delta Hurricane!_"

**Ojama Delta Hurricane:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**You can only activate this card while "Ojama Green," "Ojama Yellow" and "Ojama Black" are face-up on your side of the field. Destroy all cards on your opponent's side of the field.**

"Since I have three Ojamas on the field, all cards you control are destroyed!" said Chazz. "So your strategy of protecting yourself with Dark Reflector failed!" He looked at the remainder of his hand. "Lastly, I'll place one card face-down and end my turn!"

Rayne grimaced as her only line of defense was destroyed. _Bollocks,_ she thought. _I was 'opin' to keep 'im out for just a while longer. _She looked at Chazz. _But it looks like 'e 'ad other plans._ She looked at his Ojamas._ Ugh! Nothin' worse than one a' those!_ She looked at her Deck._ No worries. This ol' Deck a' mine'll do its job today, just like it 'as every other day. I'll show that bloody Chazz 'o can Duel, an' I'll definitely send 'is Ojamas packing when I do it! _"Right then! My move!" Rayne announced as she drew the top card and gave it a look-see.

"How do you guys think the Duel's going?" Syrus asked Jazz and Mindy. He was eager to see if there was any legitimacy to them being Obelisk Blue students. Mindy put her hands on her hips. "Well," she mused. "Chazz played the majority of his hand on his first turn, and that's never a smart move. You should always keep a good amount of cards in your hand in case you need them later." She turned to Rayne. "And right now, Rayne has six cards in her hand while Chazz only has two, so Rayne's got the hand advantage."

"But don't forget; Chazz has the _field _advantage," Jasmine reminded her. "He's got four monsters out on the field while Rayne's unprotected. Plus he has his face-down card in case things get bothersome for him, so he's got nothing to worry about." Syrus turned his head back towards Rayne, satisfied with what he'd heard. So far, it seemed that Jazz and Mindy _were _Obelisk Blues for a reason.

Blair looked at Jasmine out of the corner of her eye. "You've clearly never seen Rayne play," he said. Jasmine looked back at him quizzically. "What does that mean?" she asked, but Blair simply pointed towards Rayne. "Wait and see," she told everyone, "She'll have something yet. And when she does, Chazz will have plenty to worry about." Everyone thought about it for a moment before turning their attention back to the Duel.

Rayne meanwhile, was staring at the cards in her hand, surveying her options. _Bollocks, _she groaned. _No monsters. Lucky for me this bloke's only got one good monster on the field. _She surveyed Chazz's side of the field. _But knowing 'im, 'e's going to play another monster from the XYZ Archetype. Why else would 'e play X-'Ead Cannon?_ She searched her hand again. _Ah well. All I can do is play these two cards and 'ope they bring me something good from my Deck._ She gripped two cards and played them. "I'll Set these two cards face-down and end my turn."

Chazz rolled his eyes. Could this girl _get _any less impressive? Although, he admitted to himself, he _would _have fun dealing her a massive amount of direct damage. It was one of Chazz's favorite things to do in a Duel. He drew his card. "Alright," he began, "I sacrifice my Ojama Yellow to play my Armed Dragon Level Five!"

**Armed Dragon LV5 (WIND):**

**Level 5 (Duh)**

**[Dragon/Effect]**

**By sending 1 Monster Card from your hand to the Graveyard, destroy 1 face-up monster on your opponent's side of the field with ATK equal to or less than the ATK of the sent monster. During the End Phase of the turn that this card destroyed a monster by battle, by sending this card to the Graveyard, Special Summon 1 "Armed Dragon LV7" from your hand or Deck.**

**ATK/2400 DEF/1700**

"So _now,_" said Chazz, "I'm attacking you directly with Armed Dragon Level Five and X-Head Cannon!"

"That's a total of forty-two hundred Attack Points!" gasped Jasmine. "Rayne's about to lose half her score already, and the Duel's just started!

Blair however, remained calm. _I know you've got something, Rayne. Come on!_ Her expectations were let down however, as Chazz's Armed Dragon Level Five scored a direct hit. Her expression saddened. _Come on Rayne, _she urged in her mind, _Show me that you're still just as clever as you were in the old days! _

Rayne grimaced as her Life Points dropped to 5600. "Reveal Trap Cards!" she called. "Wearing 'Em Out and Pound for Pound!"

**Wearing 'Em Out*:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**Every time you take Battle Damage this turn, decrease the ATK of 1 opponent's monster by the amount of Battle Damage you took.**

**Pound for Pound*:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**When you take Battle Damage: draw 1 card for every 400 damage you took.**

"First up is my Wearing 'Em Out card!" called Rayne. "When I take Battle Damage, I can subtract the amount of Battle Damage I received from the Attack Points of one opponent's monster!" She pointed to Chazz's X-Head Cannon. "Which means I won't be expecting any trouble from _'im _any time soon!"

"Smart!" said Syrus. "She knew she was too late to do anything about Armed Dragon, so by going after X-Head Cannon with Wearing 'Em Out's effect, she ensured that her Life Points would stay safe!"

"And there's more!" called Rayne. "Next up is my Pound for Pound card! For every four 'undred points of Battle Damage I took this turn, I get to draw a card from my Deck!"

"But why would she need to do that?" asked Mindy. "She already has four cards in her hand, so drawing six new cards doesn't seem necessary since she already has the hand advantage. She doesn't need more when she's got four."

"Not necessarily true," said Alexis. "Remember Mindy, hand advantage is about quality, not quantity. No high amount of cards can help you if none of them can give you the effects that you need." Mindy nodded. "Touché," she admitted. "Very true. Now let's hope that Rayne drew some good cards."

Since he wouldn't be able to do any additional damage with X-Head Cannon, Chazz ended his turn. Rayne drew and looked at her pull. _Not bad, _she thought. _But not super good, either. I need to take out Chazz's Armed Dragon Level Five, but I can't do that with… _she looked at the one Monster Card she'd be able to Summon that turn. …_Barrierman. But what choice do I 'ave? I should use my 'and advantage while I've got it, and then maybe later I'll be able to draw something that can 'elp me better._ "Alright you!" she called to Chazz. "I Summon _Barrierman _in Defense Mode!"

**Barrierman* (EARTH):**

**Level 3**

**[Rock/Effect]**

**Discard 1 card: negate an opponent's monster's attack.**

**ATK/1000 DEF/1000**

"Next, I'll place-" she checked her hand "-_Four _cards face-down and end my turn!"

Alexis whistled. "Four face-down cards is laying it down thick. But at least she won't have to discard any cards from her hand during her End Phase."

"True," agreed Syrus. "She started out with eleven whole cards in her hand after her Draw Phase was over. Summoning Barrierman brought her hand down to ten, and she must've played those four face-downs because both they and the cards already in her hand were worth keeping."

"My turn!" called Chazz, drawing his card for that turn. He looked at it. "Alright, I'm Summoning Lancer Lindwurm in Attack Mode!"

**Lancer Lindwurm (WIND):**

**Level 4**

**[Dragon/Effect]**

**During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than this card's ATK, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.**

**ATK/1800 DEF/1200**

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: While I'm aware that Lancer Lindwurm is a card that Chazz only uses in the manga, I have decided to mix the anime and manga Decks of the GX cast so that it will be easier for me to come up with cards for them to use against their opponents. It'll be happening for everyone else, too. Except for Jaden's Elemental Hero Deck. Like that Deck _needs _any more cards?)

"And now Lancer Lindwurm!" Chazz threw his arm out forward. "Attack Barrierman!"

"Not quite!" called Rayne. "I play Barrierman's effect! By discarding a card, I can negate an attack from an opponent's monster!" She grinned at Chazz. "Sorry ole _chum._" She took a card from her hand and placed it in her Graveyard.

"Well," said Syrus, "Rayne sure caught a lucky break, huh?"

"Don't count on it," said Alexis. "Chazz isn't done attacking."

Syrus' face fell. "Aw yeah, that's _right,_" he said. "Just when you think that Chazz has let you have enough, he keeps dishing out more!"

Blair yawned. "I have every confidence that Rayne can handle Chazz," she stated. "She's an excellent Duelist, and she's an Obelisk Blue. So there's nothing we have to worry about." Her friends took a look at her, then at Rayne, and then relaxed. Chazz however, was doing no such thing. "Now, X-Head _Cannon _attacks Barrierman!" Chazz announced. The mechanical monster began charging its cannons. Chazz sneered at Rayne. "Sorry, ole _chum_," he mimicked. Rayne gave him a dirty look. Chazz continued. "Got anything for _this?"_

Rayne grimaced. "I'll use Barrierman's effect again: I discard a card, and your attack is negated."

Syrus noticed it. "He's trying to wear down her hand," he said. "By aiming for her Life Points, he's forcing her to choose which one of those is more important, and knowing how important Life Points are, Rayne's willingly discarding cards from her hand that could possibly help her!"

"How is he aiming for her Life Points?" asked Jasmine, confused. "She has a monster on the field, so Chazz has to attack that first."

"What Syrus means to say," explained Alexis, "Is that Rayne needs to keep Barrierman on the field so that she can keep using its effect to negate Chazz's attacks. If she loses Barrierman, her Life Points will be wide open. So while you're right Jasmine, in that Chazz _is _in fact targeting Barrierman, what he's really doing is getting Rayne to throw out helpful cards so that she'll have less ways to protect herself from him when the time comes when he finally destroys Barrierman and gets a clear shot at her Life Points."

"Oh," said Jasmine. She hadn't been thinking that far ahead.

"And now," said Chazz, "Last but not least, Armed Dragon Level Five attacks Barrierman!"

"I play Barrierman's effect and discard a card to negate your attack!" countered Rayne. She selected a card from her hand and placed it in her Graveyard. _Crap, _she thought. _Chazz 'as really got me on the ropes. At the beginning of 'is turn, I 'ad six cards in my 'and, but now I've only got three. _She felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her head. Chazz ended his turn and Rayne drew her next card. _I've got four cards now, but I can't keep goin' on like this. If I do, Chazz'll wear down my 'and to the point where I won't be able to use Barrierman's effect to negate 'is attacks anymore, an' then my Life Points will be wide open! _She looked at the card she drew. _Fortunately, I drew this one. 'E'll 'elp protect me for a little bit while I try to come up with a counter-strategy. _"I Set one monster and end my turn."

Right now, the Duel was as follows: Chazz was winning, 7100-5600, he had Lancer Lindwurm, X-Head Cannon, Armed Dragon Level Five and Ojamas Green and Black on the field for a total of five monsters. Last but not least, he had one face-down card and held one card in his hand. Rayne meanwhile, controlled two monsters: Barrierman and her Set monster. She also controlled four face-down cards and held three more in her hand. It was now Chazz's turn; he drew… and he smiled. "I sacrifice Ojama Green to Summon Mefist the Infernal General!"

**Mefist the Infernal General (DARK):**

**Level 5**

**[Fiend/Effect]**

**When this card attacks with an ATK that is higher than the DEF of your opponent's Defense Position monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, discard 1 card randomly from your opponent's hand.**

**ATK/1800 DEF/1700**

Syrus squinted. "That card looks familiar," he murmured. "Hey Alexis, does Mefist the Infernal General look familiar to you?" Alexis took one look at Chazz's newest monster and nodded. "It does, Sy. We first saw Chazz use it three years ago against Jaden."

All of a sudden, Syrus, Alexis, Blair and Kenzan simultaneously felt aflutter. It was… _odd_ to hear Jaden's name again after all this time, especially since they figured he wanted nothing to do with them. "It's a shame Jaden doesn't want to do things with us anymore," said Syrus. "He would've loved to see this."

"Uh, ah, ah, ah, ah… ACHOO!" Jaden sneezed loudly as he helped Dorothy pull weeds in front of the Slifer Red dorm. "It's going to be cold tonight," Jaden observed. "I hope I'm not catching."

"Nah, you're not," said Dorothy, coming up next to him, "That didn't look like a sick sneeze." Jaden looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said Dorothy, "They say that if you sneeze, it means that someone's talking about you somewhere."

Jaden looked at the afternoon sky. "I hope it's them," he murmured to himself, although Dorothy heard him anyhow. She smiled at him and took off her gloves. "I'm sure they are," she said. "And I'm sure that they'll have reason to talk about you even more when they get back and see you again."

Jaden smiled at her. "I can't wait," he said. "It'll feel _just_ like old times… maybe."

"Now, Mefist the Infernal General, attack Rayne's face-down monster!" shouted Chazz. Mefist complied and the face-down monster was flipped face-up. "Reveal!" shouted Rayne, "Tiny Strong'old!"

**Tiny Stronghold* (EARTH):**

**Level 2**

**[Rock/Effect]**

**Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed. When this card is attacked by a monster with higher ATK than this card's DEF, gain Life Points equal to the difference.**

**ATK/ 0 DEF/ 900**

"Tiny Strong'old's effect activates!" said Rayne. "When attacked by an opponent's monster with 'igher Attack Points than its Defense Points, I gain Life Points equal to the difference!"

"Wow!" said Mindy, "You don't see that kind of card every day." But Jasmine was less optimistic. "Not like it does much," she said. "I mean, Mefist's effect pretty much cancels it out."

"Other way around."

"Huh? What do you mean, Lex?"

"I mean," said the Obelisk Blue student, "That Tiny Stronghold's effect is the one that's cancelling out Mefist's. Think about it: with Tiny Stronghold in play, Rayne can rely on it to protect her Life Points from both regular monsters _and _those with piercing effects. And Barrierman's helps too because of the effect that _it _has. I think Rayne's goal right now is building a defensive wall that can hold off her opponent's monsters while she tries to draw something that can greatly help."

"Not like she'll get the _chance!_" said Chazz, having apparently overheard. "Lancer Lindwurm, attack Tiny Stronghold!"

"Oh no" gasped Mindy. "Lancer Lindwurm _also _has a piercing effect and Tiny Stronghold can only protect itself from destruction once per turn! By attacking first with two monsters that both have piercing effects, Chazz has been able to ensure that Rayne's Life Points don't increase, as well as getting rid of Tiny Stronghold!"

"You know it, bitches!" shouted Chazz.

"Stow it, you! You ain't layin' a _finger _on Tiny Strong'old!" shouted Rayne. "I play Barrierman's effect! By discarding a card, an opponent's attack is negated! What do you say to _that, _Chazz?"

Chazz grinned. "I'd say that's _two _cards you lost!"

"What?!" asked Rayne. "'Ow's that possible?!"

"It's possible because of Mefist's effect!" said Chazz. "When it inflicts Battle Damage to your Life Points, I get to randomly discard one card from your hand! Looks like Tiny Stronghold didn't do its job after all!" He selected the card on the left, which Rayne promptly discarded. "You were an idiot to decide to Duel me, Rayne!" called Chazz from his side of the field. "I've got the most swaggin' Deck in all of Duel Academy, and _nobody _has _ever _come close to beating it for a whole _year!_"

_Don't listen to 'im Rayne, _she told herself. _You're the one with the better Deck, an' you _know _it, too. Just focus and consider all your possibilities, an' you'll wipe the _floor _with this knob'ead! _She looked up to see Chazz's Armed Dragon Level Five standing above her monsters. _Oh shite._

"Armed Dragon Level Five, destroy Barrierman!" Chazz grinned. _I've fucking got this in the _bag. _There's just _no way _she'll use Barrierman's effect, because she needs the card in her hand, most likely. I'm such a genius!_

"Reveal Trap Card, Aerial Maneuver!"

_FUCK!_

**Aerial Maneuver*:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**When your monster is attacked, return it to your hand. When the Battle Phase ends, return the monster to your side of the field.**

"Aerial Maneuver's effect returns Barrierman to my 'and!" said Rayne. "So there Chazz! 'E's safe!"

But Chazz was still grinning. "All you've done is leave Tiny Stronghold vulnerable!" he said. "Now, X-Head Cannon, attack Tiny Stronghold!"

Blair could see it in Rayne's eyes: the struggle of whether or not to do something to save her precious monster. _What will you do, Rayne?_ she asked in his thoughts. She was glad when she saw her play a Trap.

"Trap Card activate, Power Extension!"

**Power Extension*:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**Select 1 Spell, Trap or Effect Monster you control with an effect that can only activate once per turn: you can activate it once more this turn.**

"So now Chazz, thanks to Power Extension, Tiny Strong'old's effect of keeping itself alive in battle gets to be activated once more this turn!" said Rayne. "And don't forget its other effect of givin' me Life Points equal to the difference between the Point scores of our monsters!"

Chazz grimaced as Rayne's Life Points rose to 6500. _God dammit, _he thought angrily. _Every time it seems I get this chick in a bind, she only manages to bounce back with a keen defensive maneuver. I need to destroy one of her monsters, God dammit! _He surveyed her field. _Alright, so I've gotten her to use up two of her four face-down cards, _he pondered, _I wonder what the other two are. Chances are, at least one of them _has _to be an attack-negating card. _He then shook his head. _No, what am I thinking? She's got Barrierman for negating attacks, and even though he's in her hand right now, it wouldn't surprise me if she Summoned it first chance she got on her next turn! And given what I saw her use Aerial Maneuver and Power Extension for, they've obviously got to be cards that help with either evacuating the monster or enhancing its effect! _Chazz thought for a moment. _Alright Chazz, think. I've got my Infernal Incinerator here in my hand, and while it would make for a killer field-stomper, its high Attack Power would probably be better spent another way. _His eyes suddenly widened with realization. _That's it! _That's _how I'll do it!_ "Alright Rayne, I'll enter my second Main Phase and play Armed Dragon Level Five's effect! I discard a Monster Card from my hand to the Graveyard to destroy one face-up monster on the field whose Attack is equal to or less than the sent monster's!" Chazz triumphantly displayed his Infernal Incinerator card for all to see. "So now I'll send Infernal Incinerator to the card Graveyard and _finally _destroy Tiny Stronghold!"

Rayne grimaced as one of her best lines of defense was crushed under Armed Dragon's tail. _Deep breaths Rayne, _she told herself, _Deep breaths. _Chazz finished his performance with an elegant bow. "And with all that done, I end my turn." Rayne paused for a moment, considering what to do. It was her turn, and Chazz had Mefist, X-Head Cannon, Lancer Lindwurm and Armed Dragon Level Five all on the field, plus his Ojama Black, and it was only a matter of time before Chazz Tributed _that _to Summon something stronger. Rayne make a quick calculation: eighteen hundred points from X-Head Cannon, Lancer Lindwurm and Mefist the Infernal General made for a whopping total of fifty-four hundred Attack Points, plus the twenty-four hundred points added by Armed Dragon Level Five, which brought it all up to a grand total of… seventy-eight hundred Attack Points. Rayne breathed in. _Stay calm. Consider what kind of effect you need, and what card you'll need to draw for it. _She looked at Chazz's amassed army of monsters. _Definitely a Spell Card with a destruction effect, _she thought, and with those prerequisites in mind, she bravely placed two fingers on the top of her Deck and drew her card. She took a look at it. _Or this, this works fine too. _"Alright Chazz, I activate the Spell Card _A Few Good Men: The Brave and the Bold!" _Rayne gave a quick sigh of relief as she slipped the card into the Duel Disk slot.

**A Few Good Men: The Brave and the Bold*:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**If your opponent controls 1 or more monsters with 2000 or more ATK and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon 3 monsters with 1500 or less ATK or DEF (depending on the Battle Position you Special Summon them in) from your hand or Deck to your side of the field. If a Special Summoned monster is placed in Attack Position, it cannot be destroyed by battle until your next turn (damage calculation is applied normally). **

"When my opponent controls at least one monster with two thousand or more Attack," said Rayne, "I get to Special Summon three monsters with fifteen 'undred or less Attack or Defense Points from my 'and or Deck. From my Deck, I'll Special Summon Rocket Pilfer, 'And Booster and the Quick Man! Next, I'll Normal Summon Barrierman back to the field Chazz, because 'e's missed you _so _much!"

**Rocket Pilfer* (FIRE):**

**Level 3**

**[Machine/Effect]**

**When this card attacks an opponent's monster, reduce the attack target's ATK by 1000 and increase this card's ATK by the same amount.**

**ATK/ 900 DEF/1900**

**Hand Booster* (EARTH):**

**Level 6**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**Reduce this card's Level by a number to draw the same number of cards from your Deck. If this card's Level reaches 0, destroy it.**

**ATK/1500 DEF/2200**

**The Quick Man* (WIND):**

**Level 4**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**You can Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card's destroyed by battle, you can Special Summon 1 monster from your hand or Deck.**

**ATK/ 700 DEF/1400**

Syrus turned to Blair. "Pretty fortunate how she was able to draw that Spell Card when she did," he said. Blair agreed. "She was always the lucky one when she and I Dueled. I however, was the smart one, and that prevailed more often in the end."

"I _'eard_ that!" shouted Rayne. "An' I 'appen to recall _beating_ you once!"

"Key word 'once.'"

"Ooooooooh! I'll get _you _next, Flanagan!" Blair merely grinned at the threat; she knew she was only teasing, but that didn't make it any less fun for her when she did it.

Alexis looked at him. "You two enjoy teasing each other, don't you?"

Blair nodded. "She's easy to wind up if you know what buttons to press. Chazz doesn't seem to know which ones though, given how easily she ignored his insults and taunts."

"How _does _she do it?" wondered Mindy.

"Now I activate 'And Booster's effect!" Rayne announced. "I reduce 'is Level by a number to draw the same number of cards from my Deck as the number I declared! I'll reduce 'is Level by four to draw four cards!"

"Impressive," Alexis commented. "Now she has four cards she can use for Barrierman's effect, should it be necessary."

Rayne looked at Chazz's army of monsters, looking for her next target. "Now Rocket Pilfer, attack Armed Dragon Level Five!"

"What's she _doing?_" asked Kenzan. "Rocket Pilfer's Attack Points are lower, so it'll be destroyed and Rayne will take damage!"

"Well, _obviously _there's either an effect it has or a Quick-Play Spell Card in Rayne's hand just in case," said Syrus, his tone indicating that Kenzan should know this. "Honestly Kenzan, you're in Ra Yellow. You should know that by now."

"I know it!" snapped Kenzan. "I…" but he couldn't come up with an excuse, so all he ended up saying was, "Just watch the Duel."

"In case you're wonderin' over there Chazz," called Rayne, "Rocket Pilfer 'as an effect!"

"See Kenzan? Told you."

"Shut up, Truesdale!"

"-When it attacks an enemy monster, the enemy monster loses one thousand Attack Points while Rocket Pilfer _gains _that same amount!" She smiled as Rocket Pilfer's Attack Points rose to 1900 while Armed Dragon Level Five's dropped to 1400. Chazz kept a straight face as his dragon was destroyed, bringing his Life Points down to 6600. "What's the deal?" asked Rayne, who was a combination of both confused and annoyed that he was so calm. "Why aren't you cross?"

"Because I got _this!_" Chazz pressed the button on his Duel Disk to reveal his face-down card. "The Trap Card _Call of the Haunted!_"

**Call of the Haunted:**

**Continuous Trap Card**

**Select 1 monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.**

"So now I'll just bring Armed Dragon Level Five back to my side of the field!" shouted Chazz triumphantly. Rayne muttered a curse and quickly surveyed her hand. "I'll Set one card face-down and end my turn!"

"'Bout time!" said Chazz, drawing. "Alright, it's time for Armed Dragon Level Five to get some payback! Attack Rocket Pilfer!"

"You'll 'ave to forget about that!" called Rayne. "Any monster Special Summoned in Attack Mode by A Few Good Men: The Brave an' the Bold's effect can't be destroyed by battle until my next turn!"

"You didn't say anything about negating damage, though!" called Chazz. Armed Dragon Level Five blasted Rocket Pilfer with a blaze of fire from its mouth. Rayne checked her hand to see if there were any cards she didn't want. There were only two, so… "I activate Barrierman's effect-"

"Oh no, you don't!" interrupted Chazz. "From my hand, I activate the Spell Card Cold Shower!"

**Cold Shower*:**

**Quick-Play Spell Card**

**Tribute 1 monster: you can negate up to 3 card effects this turn.**

"I Tribute Ojama Black and this card negates your monster's effect! So now Armed Dragon Level Five can continue his attack!"

"I activate my Trap-"

"I'll negate that too!" Chazz smirked at Rayne, who held firm as her Life Points dropped to 5000. _Easy girl; you'll get 'im back later._

But Chazz wasn't done. "Now Lancer Lindwurm, attack the Quick Man!" Rayne cringed as the Quick Man perished and, due to Lindwurm's piercing effect, her Life Points dropped to 4600. "The Quick Man's effect activates!"

"Nope!" said Chazz. "Cold Shower, bitch! Now whatever you were going to do isn't gonna happen!"

Jasmine made a face. "_Sheesh, _Chazz may have the upper hand right now, but that's no reason to call his opponent names."

Every single guy turned his head to look at Jasmine. "Hi," said Syrus. "Welcome to Duel Academy."

Jasmine looked at him confused. "Huh?" Syrus decided to explain. "_Every _guy calls his opponents names, Jasmine. I don't know where you've been going for the past three years, but at Duel Academy, everyone does that. It's part of trash talking."

"Not true," said Alexis. "It's really only the guys that do that."

"Oh, so you ladies don't trash talk each other during Duels?" asked Kenzan, with a tone implying that all the cool kids did it.

"_No _Kenzan, we don't, because we know it's just a _game,_" Alexis began looking at her nails, though mainly keeping an eye on the Duel. "I honestly can't see why you guys feel the need to say rude things to each other that isn't even part of what you're doing there in the ring. I mean, I saw two people Dueling the other day, and one guy _barely _managed a direct attack, but when he did it, he was like-" Here, Alexis contorted her face to imitate the person she saw and gesticulated accordingly with her hands. "-'Hah!You just got your _ass rammed! _Ha-ha, _yeah! Fuck you! _Get ready to _suck some bone!_"-here she stopped and returned to her normal stance and voice-"I mean, I don't understand why you guys get so pumped up over it."

"Well," said Kenzan. "On the plus side, it's really only the freshmen that do it. Although you _are _right, Chazz _is _going overboard." Everyone nodded their agreement as they continued watching the Duel.

"Now, X-Head Cannon and Mefist, make Daddy proud!" called Chazz triumphantly. "Double Attack on Rocket Pilfer!" Rayne cringed and grimaced as her Life Points dropped to 2800. Chazz smirked: with his Life Points much higher than hers at 6600, and an entire four-monster army, he was close to winning this Duel. "I gotta say Rayne, I'm disappointed!" called Chazz. "These are the same monsters I've had on the field since the Duel began! On the contrary, I've destroyed a few of your monsters already! Quite frankly, I'm disappointed in the lack of a challenge you're giving me!"

"WILL. YOU. JUST. SHUT. _UP!" _yelled Rayne. "You're _such _a knob'ead, Princeton, y'know that?"

"Whatever, just draw your card! I wanna get back to the Academy soon!"

Rayne angrily clenched her jaw. _"Fucking _arse'ole," she muttered as she drew her card. Strangely enough, her mood drastically improved once she saw it. "Yes! Get ready Princeton! You wanted a challenge, well 'ere one comes! First, I switch 'And Booster to Attack Mode, an' then I play the Spell Card The Few, the Proud!"

**The Few, the Proud*:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Select 1 monster you control that survived through your opponent's Battle Phase: this turn, its ATK doubles and it can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each.**

"'Ere's 'ow it works!" said Rayne. "I choose one a' my guys 'o survived your last Battle Phase, an' this turn its Attack Power _doubles!_" she smiled with glee. "An' if _that _weren't grand enough, it also gets to attack all monsters you control once each!" Chazz cursed loudly, but those in the stands rejoiced. "She literally drew _the _perfect card for this turn!" said Kenzan.

"Now 'And Booster, level the body count, will ya? Attack X-'Ead Cannon, Lancer Lindwurm, Mefist the Infernal General and Armed Dragon Level Five!" With its Attack Points doubled to 3000, Hand Booster charged at each of Chazz's monsters, smacking them hard across their faces with an epic bitchslap, delivering to Chazz three sets of twelve hundred damage for his Cannon, Lindwurm and Mefist, and six hundred in the case of his Armed Dragon. Chazz appeared very cross indeed as his Life Points dropped drastically from 6600 to 2400.

"Holy _shit, _she just evened the score between them in _one _turn with _one _card!" exclaimed Syrus. "Goddamn, that chick's _good!" _He turned to Blair. "Did you ever beat her?"

"Plenty of times, but then again she never used this Deck," Blair admitted. "I'm not sure that I could beat it if she used it against me in a Duel _now._"

"Careful," warned Alexis. "You're a Duel Academy student now, and we don't allow that kind of talk from one of our own when the competition's around." Blair smiled at Alexis. "Of course, you're right. I'm sorry Alexis."

Alexis smiled at the girl who had pretty much become her protégée. "It's cool Blair, you know we love you." Putting her serious face back on, she continued, "Meanwhile, Chazz is in a very precarious position: Rayne's decimated his field, leaving him with no monsters or face-down cards to protect himself with. Furthermore, he's got no cards in his hand."

Kenzan nodded. "Ideally, he'll draw a card with a drawing effect to increase his hand size so that he can try and make a comeback."

"Oi!" called Rayne. "What's all this about 'im launchin' a comeback? I ain't done yet!" after the others apologized to her, Rayne continued. "Now Rocket Pilfer makes a direct attack on the player!" she called with glee. "You may 'ave destroyed more of my monsters than I 'ave yours, Princeton, but _I _got the first direct attack!" She smiled. Chazz growled as his Life Points hit 1500. "Gotta turn this around somehow," he murmured. "But _how?_" After Rayne ended her turn, he surveyed the field. Rayne controlled Hand Booster and Rocket Pilfer, two face-down cards, since the Trap Card she'd tried to activate had been negated by his Cold Shower card, so thus it was now in the Graveyard. But, she still had Barrierman on the field, and with four cards in her hand, she could negate four of his attacks. So he couldn't really attack any of her monsters. Oh well, only one thing to do. Chazz placed his hand on top of his Deck… and drew a card. He smiled once he saw it. It was such a simple plan to execute, and yet it could possibly turn this Duel back in his favor. "I activate _Mind Control!"_ said Chazz. "This is where I regain the advantage!"

**Mind Control**:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Take control of 1 opponent's monster until the End Phase. That monster cannot be Tributed.**

"Using this Spell Card, I pay eight hundred Life Points and take control of one opponent's monster!" Chazz dropped his Life Points to 700 and pointed at Hand Booster. "So now I'll take control of Hand Booster!" Rayne tried her best to hide her displeasure as her monster went over to Chazz's side of the field. Chazz looked up Hand Booster's effect on his Duel Disk's card archive system. "Awesome," he grinned. "I play Hand Booster's effect! I reduce his Level by two and draw two cards from my Deck!" Chazz's grin grew wider as he drew two more cards. "But since Hand Booster's Level is now zero, he's destroyed by his own effect!" Rayne frowned; not only had Chazz gotten rid of her field's best defender without attacking, but he'd also gotten two more cards out of it, which could possibly help him launch an assault that could win the Duel for him. Chazz looked at the two Spell Cards he's drawn. _Fuck to the yes,_ he thought. _And I know _just _how to use these too. _"I play Monster Reborn!"

**Monster Reborn:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Special Summon 1 monster from either player's Graveyard to your side of the field.**

"So now I'll resurrect Hand Booster from _your _Graveyard!" said Chazz, "And play its effect again! I'll reduce his Level by five to draw five more cards from my Deck!"

"I gotta hand it to Chazz. He really knows how to milk his opponent's cards," Syrus murmured. Kenzan agreed. "A tactic that makes him worthy of his Obelisk Blue rank," he admitted with a little jealousy. Chazz grinned at all the new cards he'd drawn. "Next I'll activate Heavy Storm!" he called.

**Heavy Storm:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field.**

Rayne grimaced as her two Trap Cards on the field were destroyed. Chazz grinned. There was just one more thing to do. "I activate Tribute to the Doomed!"

**Tribute to the Doomed:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Discard 1 card. Destroy 1 monster on the field.**

"I discard my Ojama Red from my hand," Chazz began, "And this card destroys one monster on your side of the field!" He grinned. "So say goodbye to Barrierman!"

"No!" cried Rayne. But it was too late to do anything as her best defense was destroyed. Chazz grinned. "Next I Summon Chthonian Soldier in Attack Mode!"

**Chthonian Soldier (DARK):**

**Level 4**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**When this card is destroyed by your opponent's attacking monster and sent to the Graveyard, inflict the Battle Damage you took from this battle to your opponent's Life Points as well.**

**ATK/ 1200 DEF/ 1400**

"Now, Chthonian Soldier, attack Rocket Pilfer!" Rayne cursed as Chthonian Soldier destroyed Rocket Pilfer and her Life Points dropped to 2500. "Oh, but I'm not done!" smirked Chazz. "Hand Booster, attack Rayne's Life Points directly!" he smiled. "Now _what _was that about you being the only one to get a direct attack in?" Rayne winced as her own monster struck her directly, reducing her Life Points to 1000. Chazz looked at his hand, surveying his options. _I've got two cards left,_ he thought. _But I'd rather have more options. _"I'll enter my second Main Phase and play Hand Booster's effect one last time: I reduce his Level by one and draw another card!" Chazz drew his card. "And now, since his Level's now zero, Hand Booster's destroyed by his own effect once more!" Chazz added the card he'd drawn with the rest of his hand and considered what he had. _All I have is Armed Dragon Level Three, Inferno Reckless Summon and the Grave of Enkindling, _Chazz thought. _These cards are all fine, but they don't defend me at all. _He looked up at his Chthonian Soldier. _Hopefully Rayne won't attack my Chthonian Solider because she knows what its effect is. _He looked back at his hand. _What's more, if I use the Grave of Enkindling, it'll enable Rayne to Summon a monster as well, and I'd rather not have that. _Chazz frowned at his hand. _But what choice do I have? If I want to protect myself, the Grave of Enkindling is my best chance to… wait a minute… yeah… I can use _this _card too, and… oh, I am _SUCH _a genius! _"I'll place two cards face-down and end my turn!"

"Right, my turn then!" called Rayne. She drew a card, making the total in her hand five. And what a card it was! Rayne smiled. This Duel was over. "It's over, Princeton!" she called. "Just like you did, I'll activate Monster Reborn! But instead of 'And Booster, I'll Summon back my Rocket Pilfer!" Rayne smiled. With Rocket Pilfer's effect, it would gain one thousand Attack Points while Chazz's Chthonian Soldier would _lose _that amount, making its Attack Points two hundred while Rocket Pilfer would have nineteen hundred, which would inflict seventeen hundred points of damage to Chazz, which would wipe out his Life Points and give her the Duel. "You put up a good fight, Princeton, but I'm afraid it just wasn't good enough!" Rayne smiled and thrust her arm forward. "Rocket Pilfer, attack Chthonian Soldier! Wipe out Chazz's Life Points an' end this Duel!" she cried. Rocket Pilfer blasted off and aimed toward Chthonian Solider. Just as Rayne had planned, its Attack Points dropped to 200 while Rocket Pilfer's climbed to 1900. Chazz looked down at his face-down cards. _Oh well. Guess I won't be able to use this combo after all. _He looked up at the incoming Rocket Pilfer. _I was hoping to attack her monster and then use the Grave of Enkindling to Summon back a monster from my Graveyard, then use Inferno Reckless Summon to bring out two other copies of it from my Deck. But it's not going to go that way, so I'll have to settle for this Duel being a draw._ He looked on philosophically as Chthonian Soldier was destroyed and his Life Points dropped to 0. "I did it!" called Rayne, jumping up and down. "I beat you, Princeton! Suck on that!"

"Look again," said Chazz. "At your Life Points."

"Huh?" Rayne checked her score, and did a double take. Her Life Points were _also _at 0! "What the bloody 'ell is goin' on?!" she wondered. Chazz ran his hand through his hair. "It's simple," he explained. "Chthonian Soldier has an effect: when it's destroyed by my opponent's attacking monster, my opponent takes the damage from that battle as well as I do. That's why _both _of us took seventeen hundred points of damage." Chazz looked up at his opponent. "This Duel's a draw, Rayne."

Rayne let out a sigh. "I was 'opin' to beat you," she said. "Given 'ow much of an arse'ole you are." To her surprise, Chazz grinned. "Being an asshole is my thing," he admitted. "But, in the name of good sportsmanship, I want to say that that was an absolutely kick-ass Duel." The others walked over to the two of them and agreed. "You both pulled out very good combos," said Alexis. She looked over at Chazz. "That was a great move there you pulled when you used Hand Booster for yourself," she admitted. Chazz blushed. "Well," he said, trying to be modest for the sake of looking cool. "One's gotta look at all their options and select the best one. That's all I did, Lex." Chazz gathered his cards from his Duel Disk and put his Deck back in its box, then returned his Duel Disk to standby and took it off, placing it in his backpack. "Heckuva Deck you got there, Rayne."

"Please," said Ophelia going through the same post-Duel process as Chazz, "The Duel's over. When off the arena, I go by my first name like everybody else."

_Kind of weird, _thought Chazz, _But whatever._

Blair ran over and jumped on her old friend's back. "You were _amazing!" _she gushed. "Your Deck has some of the most interesting cards I've ever seen!" Kenzan agreed. "From first glance," he admitted. "Your Deck just looks like a bunch of disorganized cards with random effects. In short, it looks like a sandbox Deck. But after seeing you Duel, I gotta admit, I was wrong. That Deck has some of the coolest Effect Monsters I've ever seen!"

Ophelia smiled. "Thanks for that mate," she said. "But you _are _right. My Deck _is _a sandbox."

"_Haaaaah?" _went the others. Syrus was the one to ask. "Why would you _intentionally _play a sandbox Deck?" he asked.

"Well," said Ophelia. "As you all know, my dream is to become the first Queen of Games, an' to do that, I need to beat Yugi Muto, 'o's Deck is seemingly unstoppable." Ophelia's eyes betrayed her admiration for the world-renowned champion. "I mean, Yugi Muto's Deck is just that: it's a bunch of cards that seemingly don't go together, but Yugi _some'ow _manages to make it work! _That's _why I'm as big a fan of 'im as I am. Most people today play Archetype Decks, but Yugi keeps it real an' uses a Deck composed of cards with effects that 'e's able to utilize in ways nobody else would ever _think _to use 'em!" she pumped her fists, getting fired up. "So that's why I 'ave to do that. I personally believe that the only way to defeat Yugi Muto in a Duel is to take the fundamentals of 'is Deck and use it with _your _Deck. An' if you can do it better than 'e can, you've got yourself a win and the title of world-renowned champion!"

Chazz nodded with approval. "I can respect that philosophy. After all, Yugi's an absolute _genius _when it comes to Dueling. _Nobody _Duels the way he does." He looked up at the sky. "I mean, that's partially because every Duelist Duels their own way, but it seems like Yugi's able to look at a card and see _thousands _of ways in which that card can be used. That's hyperbole of course, but you know what I mean."

Alexis checked her watch. "It's one 'o five," she announced. "We've got more than six and a half hours until we have to be back on the boat. What should we do in the meantime?"

"More Duels?" asked Syrus hopefully. "I want to see more of your Deck, Ophelia!"

Ophelia smiled weakly. "Believe me love, I'd love to take you on, but all of a sudden I 'ave an 'ankerin' for a burger or something. Anybody know a good restaurant?"

"I do!" said Mindy. She pulled out a guide book from her backpack. "There's a pop shop right around the corner from here, and they're said to make the best milkshakes!"

"So it's settled then," said Alexis. "We'll go to the pop shop, have some lunch, and then come back here for some more Duels." The others agreed, and the gang headed into town. It didn't take long for them to find the pop shop indicated in Mindy's guidebook: it was decorated in bright colors and lit displays. The gang entered the pop shop, where a friendly old man greeted them warmly. "Welcome to Pop's!" he said warmly. "What can I get all of you?" Everyone placed their orders and debated whether or not to get booths or sit on a row of stools. "If we get booths, we'll have to get two, and then our group will be somewhat divided," complained Mindy. "I vote stools!" Since Ophelia and the guys didn't really care where they sat at, the girls from Duel Academy decided things with a vote, which didn't really last too long, seeing as the result was unanimously in favor of the stools. As everyone else sat down, Ophelia dismissed herself. "I just need the loo for a few seconds," she smiled. "Be back soon!" she soon disappeared through a door after asking the restaurant owner for directions.

Syrus looked up from his menu. "What's a loo?"

"It's what they call the bathroom in the U.K.," explained Blair. "From all my Skype chats with Ophelia, I've picked up on some of the terms that the British use. Do you guys know that instead of calling it an elevator like we do, they call it a lift?"

"Uhhh, I did not," said Kenzan. "But now I know, thanks to you Blair." Blair smiled at the compliment.

As Syrus pondered over his milkshake options, he thought about Ophelia's Duel with Chazz. He remembered Ophelia's energy, and how lively she was. _I should tell Big Bro about her when we get back to Duel Academy,_ he thought. Then his face fell. _That is, if I can _find _Big Bro, and he's willing to see me at all. I don't know why, but ever since the Yubel incident, Big Bro's been avoiding us like the plague. I don't know what's eating him, but I hope he snaps out of it soon and comes back to hanging out with us. I know he's been through a lot, but Big Bro could use some time with us. Maybe it'll help him heal from all his troubles. _

"Sir? I'm waiting for your order." Syrus snapped out of his thoughts as the waiter looked at him patiently while holding an order pad. He'd already gotten everyone else. Syrus apologized profusely. "I'll have the chocolate shake and a burger please."

"And how would you like that cooked, sir?"

"Uhhh, medium."

"Thank you sir." The waiter walked into the kitchen. Ophelia returned from the bathroom, although Syrus noticed that she'd been sweating profusely and walked as if she were a little dizzy. She sat down in a stool between him and Blair, and Syrus asked, "Hey, are you feeling okay. You look a little bit under the weather." Ophelia smiled at him. "I'll be alright love," she smiled at him. "Just 'avin' some lady troubles." Syrus immediately felt like he'd asked too much. "I hope I didn't intrude by asking," he said. Ophelia smiled at him warmly. "You're fine, mate. I'm glad you asked." She looked at him, interested. "'Ow do you 'ave blue 'air?" she asked. "I can't say I know a lot of blokes with blue 'air." Syrus laughed a little bit and replied, "You probably wouldn't believe me, but it runs in the family. My older brother Zane has blue hair as well."

"Wha? Zane? You mean Zane Truesdale?" asked Ophelia, shocked. "I didn't know 'e 'ad a brother." She looked Syrus in the eyes. "An' a cute one as well, I might add." Syrus turned bright red and was relieved when the waiter came around with his milkshake, and while she didn't show it, Ophelia was too. _Glad I got 'im off my back, _she thought. _If only 'e knew what I was _really _doin' in there. _She immediately felt her insides bunch up. _Don't worry! _She pleaded in her mind. _No one's going to know! I won't tell 'im about you! I won't tell _anyone _about you! I promised you that, remember?_ Immediately her insides relaxed. Ophelia expressed relief. _'Ow 'e does that, I'll never know, _she thought. The waiter came around and she gave him her order. _In the meantime, these blokes that Blair knows are certainly fun to be around. I can't wait to 'ave fun with all of 'em. _She closed her eyes, a smile on her face suggesting a secret that only she knew. _Just wait 'till they find out what's goin down on that boat ride back to that school of theirs!_

# # #

"Come on in, Crowler," said Chancellor Sheppard. The doors to his office opened and Dr. Crowler stepped in. "Chancellor, I'd like to thank you for seeing me on such short notice," said Crowler. "I was making plans earlier with some of the other teachers before they went on this school field trip, you see, and I thought that it would be a perfect opportunity." As Dr. Crowler cleared his throat, Mrs. Fontaine and Professor Midori Hibiki stepped through the door to the Kame Game store. "What I was making plans for," said Crowler, as Mrs. Fontaine and Professor Hibiki showed a bewildered Solomon Muto a list of cards they were planning to buy. "Was to surprise the students with a little tournament when they got back, the prize being a bunch of rare cards from the Kame Game store in Domino City." Chancellor Sheppard's brow creased. "I've never heard of the Kame Game store, Crowler," he confessed. "You'll have to explain it to me." Crowler grinned. "It's where Yugi Muto grew up, sir," his grin became even more devilish. "And what better prize to give the student participants of this tournament than a bunch of cards from the Decks of Yugi Muto, Seto Kaiba and the like of the most legendary Duelists they know of?" Sheppard smiled at the idea. "I must say, Crowler, you're going above and beyond the call here. I'm impressed." He frowned. "But how are we going to get cards like those?"

"Oh, don't worry about that sir," said Crowler, placing the tips of his hands together. "Two of our teachers are already on the job. Once the students get back to Duel Academy, they'll be in for one of the biggest nights full of fun of their lives!" He placed his pinky finger near the corner of his mouth. "Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! _Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!_" Sheppard joined in. _"Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" _The room echoed with their collectively "evil" laughter.

"_MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" _When it died down, Sheppard and Crowler were left sitting there in an awkward silence. "So, ahh…" said Sheppard. "Want to play checkers? I mean, I have a checkerboard around here somewhere…" Crowler shrugged. "Sure, what the hell? Let's play."

So, as the principal and the Obelisk Blue teacher sat down and began to play some hardcore checkers, their students were enjoying themselves with soda-and-ice-cream floats and burgers. After they paid the bill, they prepared to go back to the place where Yugi Dueled Strings (whatever the name of that place is) when Blair spotted something shiny on the ground. "Cool," she said, picking it up. "Five hundred yen." She pocketed it, and then went back to join her friends.

THE END (Of this chapter)

**To all my readers out there, five points if you can get the joke at the end.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A little something about Chapter 4: one of the characters tells a dirty joke in it. If you don't like dirty jokes, just skip over it.**

**As with the last chapter, a card with an asterisk (*) is a card that I've made up which doesn't exist in the TCG and a card with two asterisks (**) is a pre-existing card that I changed because I think that it could've been better.  
**

Chapter 4 - _Matchless_

As the Duel Academy students and the new friend they made paid their bill and left the pop shop, Jazz and Mindy were keen to show Alexis some of the stuff they bought, mainly clothes and little gadgets. Safe to say, none of the guys were interested, although to be fair, Alexis had only a minor interest in the clothes and the gadgets didn't interest her in the least. The guys meanwhile, chatted up Ophelia about her stint at West Academy, and she answered truthfully: no, she didn't know Axel Brodie, he was always a secretive sort, but she'd heard of him, and had ached to Duel him since he was supposedly one of West Academy's best. None of them saw the shady figure that was standing by in the dark alley nearby. Within moments, said shady figure had run past: the guys had felt something enter their pockets, and Jazz and Mindy suddenly found themselves without their shopping bags.

"Help! Thief!" wailed Mindy, pointing to the shadowy figure that was running away from them. "He took our bags!" Syrus, Kenzan and Chazz immediately checked their pockets. "That jerk also stole our wallets!" yelled Kenzan. Alexis pointed to the figure in the distance. "Come on! After him!"

They immediately gave chase to the figure, who as soon as he discovered that he was being followed, turned a corner and pulled down a garbage can to halt his pursuers. Not that it worked; the Duel Academy students, each one of them, simply leaped over the fallen can and continued their chase. Kenzan, being in the best shape of everyone, was optimally the fastest of them and gave the figure the biggest scare. Unfortunately, it only served to heighten his need to escape the big, burly guy who looked like he beat up elephants just for looking at him the wrong way. The chase took both the figure and his pursuers under an overpass, through the Domino City shopping district, through Domino Pier, and soon took them through a residential area that rounded out and when back towards the city. It was on this particular route that an old man in front of a small, family owned store happened to be pushing an old broom back and forth. "Blasted youngster," he muttered. "Goes off to India and leaves his poor old grandpa to do his chores for him." All of a sudden, he heard an unpleasant commotion that was rather unfortunate for anyone to hear. Not that there was anything vulgar, it was rather that it involved misfortune involving fellow innocents.

"Help, thief!"

"Somebody stop him!"

"He's got our bags and our wallets!"

This old man, who had served in World War II, and who had been trapped in an ancient pyramid, stung by scorpions and bitten by Tibetan wolves, had right then and there decided (rather quickly too) that a good, honest, upstanding citizen's duty needed doing. So, like the good, honest, upstanding yet totally badass oldster that he was, he did his good, honest, upstanding duty by tripping the rapscallion who'd dared to mess with fellow good, honest, upstanding folks like himself with his broom via the simple maneuver of putting the broom in the figure's way when the figure came close enough. The figure stumbled and fell, dropping his unscrupulous acquisitions to shield his head from hard contact with the ground, which understandably, would've been much worse than simply not having his newfound possessions.

He immediately got up and grabbed what he could, but his fall had somewhat closed the gap between him and his pursuers, so he decided that he'd better cut his losses and get the hell out of there. As he ran for it, the old man knelt and began picking up some of the fallen things, putting contents back into bags and such. When the Duel Academy students (and friend) got to him, they were quite relieved and thankful.

"Thank goodness!" Mindy held a distinctive top in both hands that she'd bought earlier that morning. "I thought I'd have to go back to the store for another one! Thank you _so _much, sir!"

"Think nothing of it," said the old man modestly. "I'm just doing my duty as a fellow citizen. I know that if something were stolen from me, I'd want someone to stop the thief, so naturally it was only right for me to do that for you youngsters." He gave them a friendly smile. "Come into my shop why don't you, and get something to drink for yourselves. If you want, you can have a look around and see if there's anything you like."

When the gang went inside, they decided to take the old man up on his offer, to put it mildly.

"Oh my _gosh!_" cried Jazz as her eyes fell upon row after row of Duel Monster cards. "These are some of the strongest and rarest cards I've ever seen!" she looked up at the old man. "How'd you get to have such an extensive collection of cards like this, sir?"

The old man smiled in a way that suggested that there was more to him than met the eye. "It's very simple," he explained, although his grin suggested that these youngsters would find out more than they bargained for when they found out the story. "I opened my shop about thirty-five or so years ago, and after a few years or so, you learn to recognize which popular things are just passing trends and which things are here to stay. Naturally, Duel Monsters was one of the latter things, so I decided that I would offer people certain kinds of bargains, like allowing them to trade their cards instead of buying them, and such. My store became very popular. Even today, happy little tykes come in with their hearts set on certain cards. I always give their folks a bargain so that they don't have to worry about spending tons of money on cards. Most stores today don't do that, as to them, it's all about making as much money off this game as possible, so that's why I'm here to give people pure, unadulterated joy at low prices."

The old man's face lit up with a smile that combined nostalgia and satisfaction. "There's a special joy in this world that comes from making people happy," he said, in a harking-back-to-the-good-ol'-days kind of way. "I remember how happy my grandson was when he opened his first booster pack." He sighed happily, but his expression soon changed to sadness. "I only hope that the very way that _I _feel happy is felt by others," he sighed. "You see children, Duel Monsters is a game, and the purpose of games is to have fun and enjoy oneself, and Duel Monsters in particular is not only about that, but about the human experience."

"The human experience?" asked Syrus, confused. The old man nodded. "Precisely that," he said. "Think about this: no matter who you're Dueling, whether it's a complete stranger or your oldest friend, you'll always have fun playing this game because the two of you are having an experience together." He began to add hand gestures to his speech as he became more and more invigorated by his own joy that he wished to impart on these young people before him. "In that way, Duel Monsters becomes something _more _than just a game. Each Duel becomes its own little _event _in addition to just a gaming session as two or more fiery souls battle it out. Duel Monsters isn't just about excitement and the thrill of the Duel, kids. It's about bringing joy to people: pure, simple, unadulterated joy." The old man stopped with the hand gestures, but even as he finished his ramble, his smile remained the same. He smiled at the young ones before him. "I hope you kids find some of that joy here in my shop," he said. "Feel free to browse to your heart's content."

"Thank you sir!" said the teens. They immediately took the old man up on his word and began looking around the shop for cards that might be worthy additions to their Decks. Syrus pulled Kenzan aside. "Didn't we _meet _this guy on the field trip we took here last year?" Kenzan looked at the old man and nodded. "You're right," he admitted. "Let's see if he remembers us." The two of them walked up to the friendly old man, which drew the attention of Ophelia and their classmates. "Excuse me sir," asked Kenzan, "But do you remember me and my friend here? We came to this shop a year ago, remember?"

"Oh yes," smiled the old man, "I remember you. You came here looking for my grandson, who sadly wasn't here at the time." He looked at their classmates. "Wasn't there someone else with you? Someone wearing a red jacket? I don't see him here, what happened to him?"

Syrus and Kenzan exchanged pained glances. "We don't know," said Syrus. "He's been avoiding us lately, and we think it's because he'd rather stay away from us altogether," he looked said. "I don't know if he still likes us or not."

"Here now," said the old man. "I'm sure it's nothing that can't be worked out between you. The best of friends usually always find a way to stick together." He beckoned them all closer and spoke seriously. "Take this advice, kids. In all relationships, there exists a strong possibility for it to withstand anything as long as one person's willing to fight for it and never let it go." He paused to let these words sink in. "And believe me, someone like that lad who came here with you last year is worth fighting for. There's something about him that rubbed off on me the right way when we met last time. I can't really explain it, but it's a quality to him that I haven't observed in someone since my grandson."

Syrus and Kenzan's eyebrows shot up. They looked at each other. "I should've guessed that Jaden would've had something in common with _him,_" said Syrus, "Considering how good he is at this game."

Ophelia meanwhile, stepped up to the old man. "'O is your grandson, by the way?" she asked. "I mean, your 'airstyle looks familiar, but I mean, you could've styled it…" Everyone stared intently at the old man. They'd been meaning to ask him about it too, although they couldn't think of the right way to pop the question politely.

The old man gave her a wicked smile. "Oh, believe me sweetums," he said. "This hairstyle of mine is all-natural."

Ophelia's jaw dropped, and she began to shake and stutter. "Th-th-that means that _you_-" She tried her best to regain her composure, but she wasn't having much luck. "Y-you're Muh-muh," she swallowed and tried again. "Muh-muh-muh-"

"That's right," the old man eased on. "Sound it out now."

"Muh-muh-muh-muh-muh," Ophelia finally managed to speak a word. _"Muto." _

"Precisely," said the old man. "Solomon Muto at your service. Although starting with my grandson, everyone these days just calls me Grandpa," he leaned in to share a secret. "I don't know why, but around the neighborhood it seems that I've become _everyone's _Grandpa. For some reason, people look up to me. Isn't that something?"

By now, Ophelia had successfully regained her composure, and to the Duel Academy students, it was almost like seeing a female version of Jaden. "You taught the King a' Games _everything _'e knows!" she gushed. "You're the man _be'ind _the Legend!"

"Well," said Solomon, doing his best to stay modest. "I'm not sure if I can claim credit for who Yugi is today, unless you're referring to the man who put that boy to work on the register, taught him to tie his shoes and how to whistle, and grounded him once or twice."

The gang looked at him dumbfounded. "No way," uttered Chazz in disbelief. "Yugi Muto, the world-renowned champion, grounded?" Grandpa nodded and folded his arms across his chest. "Even the King of Games had to obey curfew," he admitted. "And I _always _made sure that boy showed people the proper amount of respect. Even if it was someone like Seto Kaiba, who you ask me, doesn't believe in respect, I made sure that that boy talked to people politely." He leaned in again, this time pretending to sell a juicy secret. "Mind you, I did one heck of a _number _on him…"

"You _did not!" _came an accusatory tone from the front of the shop. "Quit lying, Grandpa!"

I understand, my good readers, that you are hoping for that voice to be Yugi's. I am sorry to disappoint you when I say that it wasn't. The voice instead belonged to one of Yugi's closest companions, someone very near and dear to his heart. She stood at the same height as Alexis and had short brown hair. She came into the shop holding a brown bag of groceries and reprimanded Solomon. "And you never grounded him, either! Yugi was the perfect son and you know it!"

"Hmph," grunted Solomon. "Just when I was building my cred with these youngsters, you come in and ruin it. Nice _job, _Téa."

_"__Yeah, Téa," _came a distinctive, _non-rhotic, _caricatured voice. "I swearta God, you ruin _everything."_

"Oh, _shut up, Joey!" _snapped Téa. "And stop talking like you're from New York! Sheesh, just because you spent a week there doesn't mean you're _from _there all of a sudden!"*

*Had to do it. I know some of you would prefer I didn't do it, but I dig the dub's version. The Brooklyn accent's here to stay. Don't like it? Write your own goddamn story.

"S'not _my _fault I _assimilate _well into uddah cultures," said Joey, clearly rubbing it in that he had spent time in the land where Téa had always dreamed of studying dance. "People _like _me. That's not my fault." The Duel Academy students tried their best, but Joey's face was obscured by the grocery bag he was holding. "And goddamn it woman, what _is _it with you and buying so many fuckin' groceries? I'm struggling over here with the goddamn bag!"

"Joey!" Téa scolded. "Watch your mouth! There's _people _here!"

"Eh?" Joey turned and looked at the Duel Academy students (and y'know, that other chick with the British accent you're aware of) behind the bag of groceries. "Wassup?"

Immediately Jazz and Mindy went into fangirl mode. "OMG!" said Mindy, unable to contain it. "You're Joey Wheeler, the third best Duelist in the world!" she ran over and began to do that thing that fans do where they ask famous people to give them things. "Can I have your autograph?"

Alexis groaned and facepalmed. "Come on gals. Best foot forward."

"But _Lexi,_" insisted Mindy. "It's _Joey Wheeler! _Take a picture of me with him so that I can Tweet about it later!" (Joey by the way was grinning from ear to ear like a sonuvabitch; he fuckin' _loved _this). Alexis groaned and relented as Mindy handed her her digital camera.

"Make sure you press the button that's-"

"Yeah, I _know _what button to press Mindy, Jesus H. Christ."

Mindy directed Kenzan to take the bag of groceries from Joey as she posed with him for the picture. To her credit, she kept her hands to herself, and was perfectly prim and proper throughout the whole experience (see how it's done, fangirls? Take some notes here). When Alexis handed her digital camera back to her, Mindy brightened up and said, "Oh Lexi, you should take one too, to bring back to Attie!"

Alexis put her index finger to her chin, mulling it over. "Couldn't hurt," she decided. She turned to Joey to explain. "You see, Mr. Wheeler, my older brother Atticus is also a Duelist, and he's been inspired by you ever since he was a kid. He even adopted your signature disposition." (You really have to hand it to Alexis here. She phrases stuff like a pro. By "signature disposition," she was referring to Atticus' tendency to be a total goof.) Alexis continued. "He's been playing a Red-Eyes Deck ever since he first saw you use its flagship card."

Joey's eyebrows shot up. "They made an entire _Deck _based on the Red-Eyes?" Alexis nodded. "He hopes to Duel you one day to see who the better wielder is."

"Well," said Joey, showing a rare, accommodating side to him. "When you see him, you tell 'im Joey Wheeler's lookin' forward to it." After that of course, he posed for another picture. "You want me to sign this one?" he asked. Alexis shook her head. "I don't want to bother you. Honestly, just seeing you in person is enough for me. It's _these _two-(she gave a castigating glare at Jazz and Mindy)-who I'm still trying to teach that to."

"It's fine," said Joey. "But tell y'bruddah I said hi, and that I accept his challenge."

"Thank you so much," said Alexis, ever the well-mannered, classy lady she was. "He'll be so happy to hear that." Joey nodded and then went into the kitchen to help Téa put the groceries away. Meanwhile, Ophelia was still staring at Solomon, who noticed. "Can I help you with something?" he asked.

Ophelia gulped and said, "I want you to Duel me!"

_"__Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"_ the Duel Academy students all reacted in that anime way, where it's over-the-top and you're wondering why they can never just react like normal people. "Are you serious, Ophelia?" asked Blair. (Don't be too hard on yourself, I forgot she was there too.)

Ophelia looked at her longtime pen pal-turned-Skype friend. "Definitely, mate. I want to be the Queen of Games one day, an' in order to _reach _that goal, I'll 'ave to face Yugi Muto in a Duel an' _beat _'im. But I've got a long way to go before I do that, an' I keep thinking that what better way to prepare myself to Duel Yugi Muto then to face off against the man 'o made 'im?" Ophelia's hand went to her Deck Box and she pulled out her stack of cards. "I've built this Deck _specifically _to force myself to _think _about all the different ways I could combine my cards an' form combos, an' I'd give _anythin' _to test it out against the man 'o raised the Greatest Dueling Mind of All Time."

Solomon's eyes widened at the praise. "Well, it's been ages since I've Dueled someone," he admitted. "And I'd love an excuse to take my old Deck out again." He gave Ophelia a smile he'd only given princes and high rollers back in his old gambling days. "You're on!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute!" called Joey, emerging from the kitchen (with a baloney and cheese sandwich in one hand). "What's goin' on?"

Solomon's eyes never left Ophelia's. "I've been challenged," he said. "To a Duel by this young lady here."

"Oh, okay." Joey then turned around and went back into the kitchen, squeezing past Téa. "Wait!" she called after him. "Don't you want to _see _it?"

"I gotta get a _chair _first!"

"What the hell do you need a _chair, _for?"

"Well, let's see, Téa: I'd like to _sit _in it, first of all." The boys from Duel Academy were barely able to stop themselves from cracking up; Joey Wheeler's ability to wind people up was legendary, second only to his Dueling. Joey emerged from the kitchen, his sandwich in his mouth, a beach chair under his left arm, and a Coke in his right hand. "An'seconufallIwonuatmysnfch."

"Oh, for the love of-_here!" _Téa picked up a plate and took Joey's sandwich from his mouth and put it on the plate. "Use a _plate, _you frickin' _caveman!_" At this point, Syrus, Kenzan and Chazz burst out laughing while the girls shamed them by hitting them and tried to cover them while saving face. Joey continued. "And _second _of all, I want to sit and eatmy sandwich."

# # #

The Duel took place in front of the Kame Game store. As Solomon fetched the Duel Disk that he'd used during the KC Grand Championship, Joey waited alongside the guys from Duel Academy as the participants got ready. "So what year you guys in?"

"Third. Kenzan's in his second."

"Cool. What, ah, what's with the colors?"

"They represent our dorms and skill level. The best students are in Obelisk Blue, the alright students are in Ra Yellow, and the lowest-ranking students are in Slifer Red."

"Wow. Kaiba's _still _a huge bitch, even ten years later."

"Yeah, pretty much."

Awkward silence, for a good few moments. "You guys wanna hear a joke?"

"Sure!" the Duel Academy boys crowded around. The girls were in their own group, wondering about the Duel and how it would go. Joey pulled the Duel Academy boys in close to make sure he could tell the joke without the girls hearing.

"Alright, so this elderly Jewish couple's been married for sixty years, right? And when they get into the retirement home, the husband goes to see this woman Esther, who's got Parkinson's Disease. And his wife is _pissed _about it, right? She goes, 'Why are you going to see that Esther person when we've been married for so long?' And the husband goes,-(here, Joey held out his hand as if he held billiard balls in it and began jiggling it around)-"'Parkinson's'."

Chazz and Kenzan cracked up immediately, howling with laughter. Syrus took a while. "I don't get it," he admitted, a little ashamed. Joey was patient; he held his still-cupped hand to his groin and jiggled it again. "See? She's got Parkinson's and he puts his balls in her-" Syrus' eyes lit up as he finally got the joke. He joined Chazz and Kenzan's howls of laughter. "M-m-make it s-s-s-top! It _hurts!_" he managed to say, his eyes watering behind his glasses. The girls came over. "What's so funny?" The guys immediately clammed up; where they were from, girls and dirty jokes were not a good combo. "Nothing," they said, but once the girls gave up, they went back to snickering.

Ophelia and Solomon took their places. "Are you ready?" asked Solomon. "Prepare yourself!" The two of them engaged their Duel Disks and stood with their feet shoulder-width apart. Their Life Point counters displayed 8000 for each. Solomon graciously allowed Rayne the first draw. She was just about to when…

"Wait! Hang on," Joey put his sandwich in his mouth as he took a moment to set up the beach chair. The Duel Academy boys laughed among themselves: again, Joey Wheeler was famous for this, and even Rayne wasn't mad; how the hell could she be mad at _Joey freakin' Wheeler, _who was only doing this at the most inopportune moment because he knew how funny it would be? After Joey sat down in the beach chair, he stretched out his arms and opened his Coke while shifting his crotch around in the guise of getting comfortable, which elicited laughter from both guys _and _girls. The girls didn't know why they were laughing, save for Alexis, who had grown up with an older brother who never stopped doing this sort of thing; it was all about timing and the _way _in which a person did something that made it funny. In any case, Joey got comfortable, and gave a small rolling wave of his hand. _"Proceed." _This elicited more laughter from both sexes. Solomon and Ophelia looked at each other with mirth and amusement in their eyes. This guy was almost _too _funny.

"Alright then," said Rayne, after the laughter had _finally _died down. "I draw!" She looked at her card. "I Summon Steam Shunter in Defense Mode!"

**Steam Shunter* (WATER):**

**Level 1**

**[Machine/Effect]**

**Add 1 card from your Deck to your hand instead of conducting a normal draw during your Draw Phase.**

**ATK/ 300 DEF/ 300**

Rayne surveyed her hand. "An' next, I'll Set two cards face-down an' end my turn!" Rayne made a respectful gesture towards Solomon. "Your turn, sir!"

Solomon smiled; it was nice to know that there were youngsters who showed the proper amount of respect towards their elders. "I draw!" he said. He added his card to his hand and looked over his options. This took a while, but Rayne didn't mind. _'E's strategizing, _she thought. _An' that takes time. I can't wait to see what 'e does though. For the guy 'o taught Yugi everythin' 'e knows about this game. _Like the others, she willingly waited while Solomon considered his moves. "I'll Set one monster face-down and end my turn," he said finally. Rayne admitted that she was a little disappointed, but she decided not to press it. "My turn!" she said. "An' instead of drawin' during my Draw Phase, I'll play Steam Shunter's effect instead! It allows me to add one card from my Deck to my 'and instead of drawing!" Rayne took her Deck out of her Duel Disk and did that thing where she somehow spread the cards out in her one hand despite that being incredibly difficult and near-impossible to do in real life. "I'll add Power Absorber to my 'and, and then I'll Summon 'im in Attack Mode!"

**Power Absorber* (DARK):**

**Level 4**

**[Beast-Warrior/Effect]**

**This card gains 500 ATK when a card effect activates, excluding its own, until the End Phase.**

**ATK/ 1100 DEF/ 1300**

"An' then I'll reveal my Trap Card, Tit for Tat!"

**Tit for Tat*:**

**Continuous Trap Card**

**Every time you draw a card, every monster you control gains 500 ATK.**

"Hmm," said Joey, "So she intends to combine the attack-boosting effects of both Tit for Tat and Power Absorber to have it gain one thousand Attack Points even before her Standby Phase." Joey frowned a bit. "But yet, that puts her in a bind. Either she uses Steam Shunter's effect to add a card to her hand, or she draws and uses Tit for Tat's effect." Joey took a bite out of his delectable sandwich, stashing the bits of food in his cheek to make sure he could still be understood when he spoke. "It's not a very cohesive strategy."

"Well," said Rayne, "That's why I'm playin' Double Summon, to sacrifice Steam Shunter in order to Summon Antitank Wall in Defense Mode."

**Double Summon:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**You can Normal Summon 1 additional time this turn. You can only gain this effect once per turn.**

**Antitank Wall* (EARTH):**

**Level 6**

**[Rock/Effect]**

**This card can only be destroyed by battle by a monster with ATK equal to this card's DEF.**

**ATK/ 0 DEF/ 2000**

Solomon nodded. It made sense for Steam Shunter to be sacrificed since it was the card that would weaken her strategy of combining Tit for Tat with Power Absorber, whose Attack Points were now 1600. He surveyed Rayne's field. Right now, she had Power Absorber for offense and Antitank Wall for defense. Hmm, what was she planning? "Alright then," continued Rayne, "I'm attacking with Power Absorber! Attack 'is Set monster!"

"Reveal!" said Solomon, "You've destroyed my Skelengel! Now I get to draw one card from my Deck!"

**Skelengel (LIGHT):**

**Level 2**

**[Fairy/Effect]**

**FLIP: Draw 1 card.**

**ATK/ 900 DEF/ 400**

Solomon drew his card and looked at it. Rayne ended her turn and Solomon drew another card for this turn's draw. He looked at the seven cards he now held in his hand. "Alright! For my turn, I activate the Magic Card Gather Your Mind!"

**Gather Your Mind:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Add 1 "Gather Your Mind" card from your Deck to your hand. You can only use 1 "Gather Your Mind" per turn.**

The Duel Academy students smiled at each other. Duelists from Yugi and Joey's generation kept calling them "Magic Cards," even when the official term had been changed. To be honest, the Academy students were actually glad that they hadn't gotten with the times. "So now, I'll add one copy of Gather Your Mind from my Deck to my hand!" Solomon smiled at his strategy. "Next I'll Set one monster face-down and end my turn! Your move, young lady."

"Thank you!" smiled Rayne, drawing her card. "An' now that I've drawn a card, both my monsters gain five 'undred Attack Points!" Antitank Wall's Attack Points rose to 500 and Power Absorber's became 1600. "But _then,_" Rayne continued, "Power Absorber gains _another _five 'undred points since a card effect activated, making 'is Attack Points twenty-one 'undred!"

Mindy whistled. "Wow. The Duel's just started, and it's only been one round to boot, but Rayne's _already _got a monster with high Attack Points on the field."

"That's not all," said Kenzan. "All the monsters in Rayne's Deck that we've seen from her Duel with Chazz have been Effect Monsters. So while she can use all those fancy-schmancy card effects to form a strategy, she can increase Power Absorber's Attack Points all the while, essentially making it a giant beatstick."

"Now, Power Absorber, attack 'is face-down monster!" Power Absorber promptly destroyed the Set monster, which only made Solomon smile. "Reveal!" he shouted. "Magician of Faith!"

**Magician of Faith (LIGHT):**

**Level 1**

**[Spellcaster/Effect]**

**FLIP: Select 1 Spell Card from your Graveyard and add it to your hand.**

**ATK/ 300 DEF/ 400**

"Now I can add one Magic Card in the Graveyard to my hand!" Solomon said. "I select Gather Your Mind!"

Joey raised his brow. "Just so you know Gramps, they put Magician of Faith on the Banned List!" he called. Solomon turned to Joey. "Really?" he said with sadness in his eyes. "Well then, if I've used a Banned card, than I should be disqualified and this Duel should go to Rayne."

"It's fine sir," Rayne insisted. "You didn't know, an' this isn't an official tournament Duel, so it's alright." Solomon placed his hand around his chin. Being a man of honor, he wasn't exactly sure. He felt that tournament rules should be applied even outside of tournaments. Using a Banned card made him feel like he was cheating. But then again, he only had one copy of Magician of Faith in his Deck, so he guessed that it was alright. _But after this Duel,_ he resolved, _I'm taking that card out of my Deck. I don't want to be unsporting._ He added Gather Your Mind to his hand, and noted the two copies he had alongside a card depicting a chained-up ankle. _Little does this girl know of my true strategy. _Rayne ended her turn, and Solomon began his, drawing a card. _Ah, _he grinned. _Just what I was hoping to draw. _He once again glanced at the two copies of Gather Your Mind in his hand. _Clearly, what I have going with these two cards is working._ He surveyed his other options and checked Rayne's side of the field. While he'd have to activate Magic Cards to help get his strategy moving, he couldn't just sit there and allow Rayne's Power Absorber to bulldoze every monster he played. It just couldn't happen. "Alright," began Solomon. "First, I Summon Torike in Defense Mode!"

**Torike (EARTH):**

**Level 3**

**[Beast]**

**ATK/ 1200 DEF/ 600**

"And next I'll activate the Magic Card Swords of Revealing Light!" Solomon announced. "This card will stop all your attacks for the next three turns!"

**Swords of Revealing Light:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Flip all monsters your opponent controls face-up. This card remains on the field for 3 of your opponent's turns. While you control this face-up card, your opponent's monsters cannot declare attacks.**

"The only problem for me is that playing this card raises Power Absorber's Attack Points to sixteen hundred," said Solomon. "But luckily enough for me, battling it isn't the plan." He took another card from his hand and placed it in the slot. "Because I'm activating the Magic Card Gold Sarcophagus!"

**Gold Sarcophagus:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Banish 1 card from your Deck. During your 2****nd**** Standby Phase after this card's activation, add the banished card to your hand.**

"So now I'll banish a secret card," said Solomon, "And risk the addition I've made to Power Absorber's Attack Points." He and everyone else watched as Power Absorber's Attack Points rose to 2100. Syrus turned to Kenzan. "I wonder what Mr. Muto's card is," he speculated. "I mean, Rayne can't attack for three turns, but Mr. Muto will get his card from Gold Sarcophagus in two, so he seems pretty well-prepared for anything that Rayne might have in store for him." Solomon ended his turn, returning Power Absorber's Attack Points to 1100.

"Don't count on it," warned Chazz. "We've all seen how good Rayne can be when she Duels."

"My turn!" said Rayne cheerfully, drawing a card and raising Power Absorber's Attack Points by 1000 to 2100 again and Antitank Wall's Attack became 1000. She looked at her card and grinned. "I activate Spear Soul!"

**Spear Soul*:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Activate while you control a face-up Warrior or Beast-Warrior-Type monster. Inflict the monster's ATK as damage to your opponent. You cannot declare an attack the turn you activate this card.**

"This card can only be activated if I 'ave a Warrior or Beast-Warrior-Type monster in play!" said Rayne. "It deals the monster's Attack Points as damage to my opponent! An' since Power Absorber's effect activates whenever I activate a card effect, its Attack is now at twenty-six 'undred!"

Everyone's eyes widened. "Whoa," said Syrus, "That's effective!"

Alexis agreed. "Even though she can't attack, Rayne still had a way to get at Mr. Muto's Life Points. Not bad, I'll admit."

Solomon held oddly firm as his Life Points dropped to 5400. Everyone watching him was impressed. "How can he be so _calm?_" wondered Jasmine. "He just took a good amount of damage to his Life Points, so how can he just stand there so stoically?"

Solomon heard them. _I could explain to them why, _he thought. _But I think I should just show them. _"Alright, my dear!" he declared, drawing a card. "It's my turn now, and I activate the Continuous Magic Card Recycle!"

**Recycle:**

**Continuous Spell Card**

**By paying 300 Life Points during your Standby Phase, select 1 non-Monster Card in your Graveyard and return it to the bottom of your Deck.**

"And since I'm activating a card rather than activating the _effect _of a card," Solomon continued, "Power Absorber's Attack Points won't be increasing."

"Smart!" admired Blair. But Solomon wasn't done yet. "Next I'll activate another copy of Gather Your Mind, to add the third copy of it from my Deck to my hand." Solomon added the third copy of the card, and observed Power Absorber as its Attack Points rose to 1600. _Quite the powerful beatstick, _he thought to himself. _If I'm to have any chance of beating it, my good friend will have to start showing up soon. _He eyed the card from before in his hand again. _In the meantime, I've already got something that should keep that pesky Power Absorber at bay. _"I'll Set one card face-down and end my turn." He nodded to Rayne, who drew her card. _I need to get at 'im again, like I did before, _she thought. _But 'ow do I do it? I can't attack this turn, and I 'aven't got any more Effect Damage cards in my 'and. _She observed the card that she drew. _This won't do me much good either. I can't really do much other than wait for 'is Swords of Revealing Light to fade. _"I Set one card face-down, and since I've drawn a card, Tit for Tat gives Power Absorber and Antitank Wall five 'undred more Attack Points each! So now Power Absorber's at twenty-one 'undred Attack Points an' Antitank Wall's Attack becomes fifteen 'undred." Rayne observed the cards in her hand. "I can't do much else, so I'll end my turn." She gracefully and respectfully waved her hand to Solomon. "I defer to you, sir."

Solomon smiled. "I draw!" he announced, performing the motion as he did so. He checked the cards in his hand. "First, during my Standby Phase, I'll pay three hundred Life Points to add Gather Your Mind to the bottom of my Deck." Solomon dropped his Life Points to 5100 as everyone else looked on bewildered. Solomon took the card out of his Graveyard and took his Deck out of its slot. Before he placed Gather Your Mind at the bottom, he observed the card that was already at the bottom first. _Ah, _he thought, _so that's where the tricky bastard's hiding. I'll get him out though. _"Next I'll activate my next copy of Gather Your Mind, to add the copy I just added to my Deck back to my hand." He observed Power Absorber's Attack Points going up to 2100 and simply nodded. _I have both confidence and faith in this Deck. And because I have both, I can't possibly lose!_

Chazz looked over at Joey. "Any idea of why he's recycling Gather Your Mind, Mr. Wheeler?" The third-best Duelist in all the world looked over at him in between bites of that delectable sandwich, which tragically was almost gone. "Please," he insisted. "Call me Joey. And no, I don't. It seems like such a useless card to have in one's Deck, but as Grandpa's told me an' Yugi millions of times over, there's no such thing as a useless card." Syrus put his hand to his chin. "Perhaps that's how Yugi does it," he murmured.

Joey chuckled. "Nah, believe me, it's not _just _that. It's not only believing that all cards are useful, but it's also about how you use 'em too. The thing is, the reason no one's ever beaten Yugi is for a _shitload _of reasons, not just because of one simple thing like that." He took a swig of Coke and finished his sandwich before calling into the house. "Téa! Make me another sandwich!"

"No!" came the stern reply. "Make your own sandwich, you lazy pig!" Joey then turned to the Duel Academy students. "It's worth five thousand yen if one of you would _graciously _make me a baloney and cheese sandwich." Alexis and the guys politely declined; Jazz and Mindy on the other hand, were perfectly willing to make the sandwich, provided Joey gave them both autographs. Joey agreed to their terms, and the two walked into Kame Game. Seconds later, an angry Téa came out. "Joseph Thaddeus Wheeler!" she exclaimed angrily. "Did you get those two girls to make you a sandwich? Seriously, how lazy can you be?"

"Will you _calm_ the fuck down?" snapped Joey. "I'm not hurting anybody, and they agreed to do it, alright? Quit getting on my fuckin' case about it, Jesus fucking Christ." Téa gave him an angry look and returned to the store. Joey turned to the Academy boys. "Let this be a lesson to you boys," he said faux-sagely, "Always stand your ground when a woman's angry with you." Alexis, being a woman, personally disagreed with that idea: after all, when a woman was angry with a man, it was always for a reason, so instead of 'standing his ground' and potentially making his situation with her worse, Alexis believed that a man should listen to the woman's grievances and try to alleviate them.

But then she reminded herself that Joey Wheeler had grown up in a patriarchal household under an abusive alcoholic father who possessed one of, if not _the _most misogynistic worldviews ever. She remembered reading an article in which Joey had told the interviewer that his father had told him a rather sexist joke about a Duel Disk being better than a woman simply because it had ten more slots. Alexis shuddered thinking about how someone so good as Joey had survived under such a horrible parent who would go so far as to use his own son as an ashtray to put out his cigarettes. Both Alexis, and Solomon when he looked up felt a pang of sadness as they both saw Joey reach into his pocket, pull out a carton of cigarettes and light one up. She figured that Joey's somewhat incorrect views on dealing with women, as well as his smoking habits, must've stemmed from those of his father's. Alexis turned her attention back to the Duel; no use bogging down her spirits with things that she could do nothing about. It was better for her to focus on more cheerful things. A Duel had the ability to do that to people: bring their spirits up from being down in the dumps. Alexis recalled Jaden saying that exact thing about Dueling. _I wonder how Jaden's doing now, _she thought to herself.

"Next, since it's been two turns, I can now get my card from Gold Sarcophagus!" announced Solomon. He reached behind himself and pulled the banished card out of his pocket and added it to his hand.

# # #

"A-_CHOO!" _Jaden let loose a fearful sneeze, startling Dorothy. "_Sheesh, _Jaden!" she put her hand over her heart. "Maybe you _are _catching."

"Maybe," admitted the maroon-coated youth. He brushed back a strand of brown hair. "I need a haircut," he murmured to himself. He pulled the last weed and Dorothy bid him goodbye as she climbed onto a golf cart and sped away. Jaden watched the gold cart get smaller and smaller until it was no longer in sight. He sighed; he liked talking to Dorothy, and now that she was gone, he felt lonely again, and he hated that feeling. He'd never felt lonely before, but it was something that he'd have to get used to if he was going to keep his friends safe by… _wait, no, _Jaden thought, _I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm going to let them in and reveal my secret to them. That way, it'll all be like old times. _

_"__Are you sure you want to do that?" _asked a familiar voice; Jaden looked up as Yubel materialized next to him. _"They might not be ready to accept the truth about you just yet," _she cautioned. _"And you honestly can't say that you know how they'll react to it. I think it's best if you keep on going about protecting them the way you're doing." _Jaden's eyes narrowed. "You don't know that," he opined. "I think you're going about this thing the wrong way. It could work." Yubel shook her head. _"I disagree," _she said, as if to warn him. _"Believe me Jaden, I don't see anything good about telling them. They might not react the way you hope they will. They might freak out and abandon you, and then this time you'll have no _choice _but to go back to being isolated in your room." _

Jaden suddenly felt apprehensive; what if Yubel was right? What if his friends freaked out if he told them about him being fused with her? Could they accept the truth about him, or would the truth only cause him to go back to being isolated in his room until graduation? Jaden didn't want that; he wanted to be with his friends again, but like Yubel said, he probably couldn't tell them the truth about himself without them reacting adversely to it. Could he live like that though, being among his friends while holding a tremendous secret? Jaden frowned; he didn't think he could. It would be better if his friends didn't know about his secret, and to that end, if he didn't feel like he could be among them while keeping it from them, then perhaps it was best if he continued keeping his distance from them like he'd been doing ever since he got back.

But then he remembered what Dorothy had just said to him about it: that the only thing to do was to talk to his friends. After all, he wouldn't know for sure until he tried, right? _Yeah, _Jaden thought, _that's right. I won't know until I try. _But even though he was thinking the words, he didn't believe them. He sighed, walking up to the banister of the stairway to the upper level of the Slifer Red dorm and rested his forehead on it and looking down at the ground. _Who the hell am I kidding? _he thought. _I'm not being very realistic about my expectations. They don't want me the way I am now; they want the same old Jaden they've known for three years. The Jaden they encountered when I got back must've felt like a complete stranger to them. _Jaden folded his arms over his head, his eyes betraying how frustrated and sad he was. _I never realized how lonely I was before, _he thought to himself.

_"__Hold on," _Yubel protested, _"Don't I mean anything to you?" _Jaden lifted his head and turned it around, opening his mouth to respond, but all of a sudden, he acknowledged a bright light coming from a Slifer Red dorm room. _His _dorm room; immediately Jaden's eyes went bichromatic, and he shivered as he felt a cold sensation coming over him that was unusual given the warm weather. Goosebumps rose on his flesh, obscured by his jacket, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He exchanged concerned expressions with Yubel, whose power enabled him to feel this way, and she nodded wordlessly, confirming what Jaden already knew but was still taking the time to get used to.

He was sensing a presence.

Jaden focused and returned his eyes to their normal chocolate-brown and bounded up the stairs two at a time and within three-quarters of a second was at the door to his room. Another second later the door itself was flung open as he hurried inside.

Standing right next to his bed were four ironclad figures in suits of armor, who all turned around to see who went there as their hands flew to their swords tucked away in scabbards that clung to their hips, surly expressions on three of their four faces getting even surlier as they looked at him with a hint of recognition.

Jaden recognized them too: they weren't friends of his, but Duel Monsters. The angriest-looking of them was Freed the Matchless General, and to his right was what appeared to be a younger-looking version of him that Jaden guessed was Freed the Brave Wanderer. Cutting off the Freed association, there was Marauding Captain among them too, and the fourth guy was Charubin the Fire Knight, who even though he wore a visor that obscured a good amount of his face, still looked angrier than Freed the Brave Wanderer, who didn't look very angry at all to be quite honest. Unlike his peers, the younger Freed looked incredibly uncomfortable being here, which was corroborated by him shifting in place where he stood.

Without breaking eye contact or even changing his concerned expression, Jaden jerked his thumb towards the door. "Food court's _that _way fellas," he offered sardonically; he knew damn well they weren't here for a bite to eat.

Freed the Matchless General, who was still scowling enough to be Batman's rival, pointed at Jaden. "There he is!" he shouted, "_Seize_ him!" Jaden's eyes went bichromatic again as he projected his Supreme King essence, hoping it would intimidate these guys into staying in place. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Not responding, and apparently immune to this tactic, the Matchless General took his other hand away from his sword and began to charge towards Jaden, pulling his arm back while making a fist. _Ah fuck, _thought Jaden. _It's too early for this kinda thing. _

He ducked the bigger man's punch which landed itself in the wall behind him and made a beeline for the door. The Matchless General easily dislodged his hand from the wall, although he wouldn't need to do anything more; the Brave Wanderer and the Fire Knight were already blocking the red boy's path. Jaden immediately put on the brakes. _Crap, _he thought, _They're fast!_

The Matchless General stood in his way, putting every inch of his wide-shouldered six-foot-five-inch frame to use. _Goddamn it, _thought Jaden, _I hate tall people._ He suddenly noticed a gap between the General's legs and decided right then and there to take a chance; diving through Freed's legs and bending his knees to prevent the bigger man from grabbing his legs as he went through, Jaden emerged from the other side of Freed's flowing cape in an impromptu power slide. Without thinking he got up and ran out the door into the open, immediately looking around to see if there were any innocent bystanders that might get caught in the crosshairs. Fortunately, it looked like it was just him and his three visitors. He ran down the stairs and when he was about eight feet away from the dorm, turned back to look, reaching into his Deck Box as he did so.

Yubel touched Jaden's arm as he inserted his Deck into his Duel Disk. _"You're alright?" _she asked, checking to see if he was. _"You're not hurt, are you?" _Jaden looked at her, a little uncomfortable with her asking. "I'm fine," he said, as if he were talking to his mother. "I just need to know what those guys are doing here." He noticed Marauding Captain coming through the door rubbing his head. "Although I'm going to need some cover." He looked around and the thought occurred to him: on Duel Academy Island, there was a forest where male and female students who were willing to do the deed would go and, well, do it. Jaden turned on his heel and hightailed it out of there. _I have to get to Fuck Forest, _he told Yubel through the mind link, _I can take cover there and hopefully they'll split up to come after me in hopes of covering more ground. That way, I can get one of them alone in a one-on-one. _He banished the quick uncomfortable feeling in his mind that he got from the way he phrased that particular sentence: given he was planning on ambushing a five-foot-ten-inch guy with muscles in a remote location nicknamed "Fuck Forest," there were just some jokes even the old Jaden wouldn't make.

_First time I'm glad all the girls are away on a field trip, _Jaden thought to himself. _Wouldn't want any of them writing a book about me._

# # #

"Next, since it's been two turns, I can now get my card from Gold Sarcophagus!" announced Solomon, reaching behind himself. He pulled the banished card out of his pocket and added it to his hand. _Soon, _he thought to himself. _My strategy is forming, and I'll be able to execute it soon. I just hope I can get all the necessary cards before Rayne defeats me with that Power Absorber of hers once Swords of Revealing Light wears off on her next turn. _He surveyed his hand. Two Normal Monsters, two copies of Gather Your Mind, one Effect Monster and Stray Lambs. _Well, _thought Solomon to himself, _No one ever said building your defenses was a bad thing. _"I'll activate the Magic Card Stray Lambs!" he announced, placing the card in the slot.

**Stray Lambs:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**If you activate this card, you cannot Summon again during this turn. Special Summon 2 "Lamb Tokens" (Beast-Type/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) in Defense Position.**

"After that," said Solomon, "I'll end my turn." Rayne nodded, drawing her card. She did the usual: powered up Power Absorber by 1000 to 2100 and Antitank Wall was boosted to 2000. "Since I can't attack, I'll end my turn," she shrugged her shoulders to indicate how little she could do. "Your turn, sir." Upon those words, the Swords of Revealing Light dissipated.

Solomon nodded his thanks and drew his card. "I'll pay three hundred Life Points to use Recycle to place Gather Your Mind back at the bottom of my Deck. Next I'll activate my face-down card, Jar of Greed!"

**Jar of Greed:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**Draw 1 card from your Deck.**

"So now I'll draw another card from my Deck," said Solomon, drawing his next card and dropping his Life Points to 4800. But his eyes were closed you see, and when he opened them to lay eyes on the card he'd drawn, they lit up with a friendly warmth. "Hello, old friend," he smiled. He looked at all the cards he'd assembled there in his hand. "First off, I'll Set a card face-down. Next, I'll sacrifice my two Lamb Tokens to Summon one of the rarest and most feared creatures in all of Duel Monsters!"

"What card could he be playing?" Syrus asked Joey. The taller man sighed, remembering bitter defeats at the hand of Solomon's intended summon and simply said, "It's not a card," he corrected. "It's a royal pain in Rayne's ass. At least it _will _be."

"Huh?" said Alexis. "What do you mean _will _be?" Joey took a swig of Coke and said, "Just _look._" And everyone's jaw dropped as they saw the card Solomon was showing them. Chazz got a glimpse of the legendary creature and immediately turned back to Joey. "No fucking _way_!" But Joey simply swallowed the last drop of Coke from the can and said "Way."

The skies darkened as white lightning crackled. The winds picked up, blowing bits of paper and various crap about. The Duel Academy girls had to hold their skirts down as a massive beam of bluish-white light came down from Heaven and struck the playing field, bathing all in its glow; Solomon Muto never looked nor felt so alive.

Rayne's eyes widened until they were as big as saucers; as high as its Attack Points were, Power Absorber would never be as grandiose and intimidating as this card. "Bloody _'ell,_" she murmured, "'E actually _'as _one. That's _impossible… _I thought only Seto _Kaiba _'ad that card…"

"Behold!" said Solomon, talking in an epic voice and reciting the lore written on the card, "This legendary dragon is a powerful engine of destruction! Virtually invincible, very few have faced this awesome creature and _lived to tell the tale!_"

A massive winged creature flew down from Heaven towards the playing field, perching itself on the roof of Kame Game and letting out a yawn, although to those present, it _sounded _like a roar. The crackling white lightning flashed and was reflected like a mirror in the dragon's even whiter scales, and a perspiring, wide-eyed Ophelia Rayne reflected in its namesake feature; unlike the aspiring queen, the beast before her was one that _understood _the meaning of _reign. _Ophelia felt her legs go numb as she stared into a gaping mouth of large white fangs, and above all else, a pair of piercing Blue Eyes.

"Behold!" yelled Solomon, "I Summon the _Blue-Eyes White Dragon _in Attack Mode!"

**Blue-Eyes White Dragon (LIGHT):**

**Level 8**

**[Dragon]**

**ATK/ 3000 DEF/ 2500**

Beads of sweat dropped down Rayne's forehead, and they also ran down her back underneath her clothes. _Bloody 'ell, _she thought nervously, _I never thought I'd be facin' _that _effing thing! 'Ow am I supposed to beat it? _Her sweat ran cold when she realized it was still Solomon's turn. "Now Blue-Eyes, attack Power Absorber!" The revered beast reared its head and shot its white lightning at Power Absorber, who blew to bits. Rayne grimaced as her Life Points changed for the first time since the Duel started, falling to 7100. Solomon ended his turn. Rayne drew her card and added it to the other three cards in her hand for a total of four. _Alright, _she thought, _I've got four cards in me 'and and I've got Antitank Wall out in Defense Mode, which should protect me just fine considering its effect. But I've got to take out that Blue-Eyes, an' that's never easy! _She eyed her active Trap Card. _I suppose I could just wait one more turn. I mean, thanks to this Trap, Antitank Wall's Attack Points are twenty-five 'undred as of this turn. One more turn an' they'll be three thousand, which'll be enough to take on Mr. Muto's Blue-Eyes. _Looking at her face-down card, Rayne thought to herself, _An' also, this card will keep me safe even if I lose Antitank Wall, so really, what do I 'ave to worry about? _"I'll pass," she announced, shrugging her shoulders. "Even 'olding four cards, there's nothing I can do."

Solomon narrowed his eyes. Anyone with four cards in their hand would surely use them, so why was Rayne being so inactive? Solomon eyed Tit for Tat and smiled. Of course: she was planning on powering up her Antitank Wall so that its Attack would be on par with that of his Blue-Eyes. _But if she does that, _Solomon noted to himself, _Then both our monsters will be destroyed and she'll be wide open. Unless of course, she already has a monster in her hand that she plans on Summoning after her Antitank Wall is gone. But I'm afraid her strategy's off, because I'll just destroy her Antitank Wall and insure that it doesn't pose a threat to Blue-Eyes. _He drew and looked up at the famed beast, which was yawning loudly and resting its head on the top of Kame Game. "Blue-Eyes," he said, surprisingly gently, as if the Blue-Eyes were not only real, that it was also an old friend that he were sitting out on a porch with, discussing the ways of today. "Attack her Antitank Wall, please." The dragon opened its mouth and shot white lightning, which dissipated, revealing Antitank Wall still in place. Solomon tensed. "Your monster has an effect which protects it from destruction by battle, doesn't it?" he asked. Rayne nodded, "Antitank Wall's effect states that it can only be destroyed by battle against a monsters 'ose Attack is equal to its Defense," she explained.

"Not bad," said Chazz from the sidelines. "Once Rayne's turn comes around, her Antitank Wall will be on even ground with Mr. Muto's Blue-Eyes, and if it _attacks _it, only Blue-Eyes will be destroyed because Rayne's monster can only be destroyed by battle if the monster battling it has higher Attack Points than its Defense, and Blue-Eyes' Attack is one thousand points higher than Antitank Wall's Defense." His fellow students nodded their amazement; not only were Rayne's monsters conventionally useful, but Rayne had found a way to take one of her monsters that was normally intended for defensive purposes and make it into an unstoppable offensive force. "There's somethin' else you're missin'," replied Joey. "Rayne's monster can only be destroyed by a monster with Attack Points equal to its Defense Points right? So right now, that refers to a monster with two thousand Attack Points, which wouldn't work anyway because Antitank Wall's Attack Points are now _higher _than that, which means it would just destroy any two-thousand-Attack-Point monster Mr. Muto dishes out. So essentially, Antitank Wall can't be destroyed by battle _at all._" The Duel Academy students inhaled. "She's essentially created an invincible monster," said Mindy.

"Not invincible," said Alexis, "No monster is invincible."

"So how do you expect Mr. Muto to be able to dismantle that Antitank Wall?" asked Kenzan. "I mean, referring to ways of destroying it by battle, I mean. I know that one could just destroy it with a card effect."

"Just switch it to Defense Mode," Syrus said. "Play any card like Block Attack, and there you go." Kenzan nodded his understanding, and they all looked back towards the Duel. Solomon ended his turn.

Rayne drew. "During my turn, Tit for Tat now raises Antitank Wall's Attack Points by five 'undred to three thousand," she announced. "Next, I'll switch it to Attack Mode an' attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The two monsters met in midair, trading their blows which broke the Blue-Eyes into thousands of tiny pieces. "I did it!" said Rayne happily. "I beat a Blue-Eyes!" She looked at the rest of her hand. "Nothin' much else to do, so I'll end me turn."

Solomon drew his card and looked at his hand. He had two Normal Monsters, one Effect Monster, two copies of Gather Your Mind, a Spell Card called A Feather of the Phoenix and a Trap Card called Ominous Fortunetelling. "I'll enter my second Main Phase and activate A Feather of the Phoenix," he announced.

**A Feather of the Phoenix:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Discard 1 card: select 1 card in your Graveyard and put it on top of your Deck.**

"I'll discard one card to return Gold Sarcophagus to the top of my Deck," Solomon performed the action. "And then I'll end my turn."

"What?" said Syrus, surprised. "Why isn't he Summoning something to protect his Life Points?"

Alexis placed her thumb and forefinger over her mouth, crossing her left leg over her right as she did so. "Maybe he doesn't have anything," she suggested.

"But with his field wide open, Rayne has a clear shot at his Life Points!" protested Kenzan.

Rayne smiled, thinking the same thing. She drew her card for that turn. "By drawing, Antitank Wall's Attack Points rise to thirty-five 'undred," she announced. "An' although I don't 'ave any other monsters to Summon right now, I'll still attack you directly with 'im!" Solomon did his best to stand his ground as Antitank Wall struck him, reducing his Life Points to 1300. _All I have to do is hold on for two more turns, _he thought. He drew and said, "Once again, I'll activate Gold Sarcophagus and banish a secret card from my Deck that I'll get in two turns." Selecting one of the Normal Monsters in his hand, he played it horizontally and added, "And then I Summon Left Leg of the Forbidden One in Defense Mode."

**Left Leg of the Forbidden One (DARK):**

**Level 1**

**[Spellcaster]**

**ATK/ 200 DEF/ 300**

"No way!" said Chazz. "I can't believe he has an Exodia piece!"

"So?" asked Alexis. "Lots of people have Exodia pieces. Maybe not the full set, but individual pieces shouldn't be too hard."

"Alright then," said Solomon, "Following that, I'll end my turn."

"I'm afraid it's over, Mr. Muto," said Rayne, drawing her card and looking at it. She frowned. "Okay, well maybe it isn't, but it soon will be! I Summon Easy Breaker in Attack Mode!"

**Easy Breaker* (EARTH):**

**Level 2**

**[Rock/Effect]**

**When this card's attacked, destroy it without applying damage calculation. After that, reduce the ATK of the monster that destroyed this card to 100. **

**ATK/ 100 DEF/ 200**

"Okay, so while Easy Breaker doesn't 'ave enough Attack Points to destroy your Left Leg, my Antitank Wall does, so it'll do that, an' then Easy Breaker attacks you directly! It's only one 'undred points of damage, but it's better than nothin' in my book!" Solomon's Life Points dropped to 1200. "An' then I'll end me turn," Rayne finished.

Solomon drew his card. _How fortunate for me,_ he thought. "I'll place one card face-down and end my turn." He deferred to Rayne, who drew for her turn. "Antitank Wall's Attack Points 'ave gone up by one thousand in the last two turns, making it forty-five 'undred! Attack 'im directly, Antitank Wall, an' end this!"

"If Mr. Muto doesn't do something, he'll lose the Duel!" said Syrus.

"Activate Trap!" called Solomon, "My trusty Gravity Bind!"

**Gravity Bind:**

**Continuous Trap Card**

**All Level 4 and higher monsters cannot attack.**

"This card prevents all monsters of Level Four and above from attacking!" said Solomon. "And since your Antitank Wall is a Level Six monster, it's hindered by its effect!"

"Bollocks," muttered Rayne, "But I still 'ave Easy Breaker, an' now 'e'll attack you directly!" Solomon's Life Points dropped to 1100 and Rayne ended her turn. Solomon drew for his own turn. "Now, two turns later, I get my card from Gold Sarcophagus!" he announced, adding the card to his hand. "And now I'll activate the Magic Card Monster Reincarnation!"

**Monster Reincarnation:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Discard 1 card: add 1 Monster Card in your Graveyard to your hand.**

"So now I'll bring back my Left Leg of the Forbidden One!" announced Solomon, "In exchange for discarding Gather Your Mind!" he grinned. "You were right when you said this Duel was over, Ms. Rayne. But you made a mistake in assuming that it was over for _me._ For you see," he revealed his hand. "I win this Duel."

"Holy fucking _shit!_" yelled Chazz. "He has it! He honestly fucking has it!" His peers, save for Joey, were just as awestruck as he was, and Rayne herself had gone pale. Solomon laid the five game-ending cards on his Duel Disk, "I've assembled all five pieces, which activates the effect!" he raised his arms and yelled out, "Come forth, _Exodia the Forbidden One!_"

**Exodia the Forbidden One (DARK):**

**Level 3**

**[Spellcaster/Effect]**

**When you have "Right Leg of the Forbidden One," "Left Leg of the Forbidden One," "Right Arm of the Forbidden One," "Left Arm of the Forbidden One" along with this card in your hand, you win the Duel.**

**ATK/ 1000 DEF/ 1000**

A multi-pointed star appeared on Solomon's side of the playing field. Two arms and legs shot out of two of its sections, followed by the head of the Forbidden One himself. Soon, the entire body of Exodia graced the playing field, with all spectators (except Joey, who'd seen this kind of thing before) gaping in awe. The golden-brown god charged a ball of energy in its hands as Solomon gave the command:

_"__Exodia!" _he shouted, _"OBLITERATE!" _

The golden-brown god shot the ball of energy from its hands, annihilating everything on Rayne's side of the field. Rayne fell to her knees in defeat. "I lose," she said. "Congrats to you sir."

Getting up, she and Solomon both gathered up all their cards and took them out of their Duel Disks, which they returned to standby. Syrus turned to Kenzan. "Can you believe what you saw?" he asked.

"No I cannot," said Kenzan in response. "A win with _Exodia? _Damn son, that's _old school._"

Joey smiled. "Fuck yeah it is." He turned to Solomon. "That was your strategy from the beginning, right?"

"Indeed it was," replied Solomon. "You see kids, the one thing that's more valuable to a Duelist than any of the best cards in the game is believing in oneself and the cards that they put together to make their Deck and no matter what, never losing faith. Not only is that important in Duel Monsters, but in life as well." He smiled at them. "Believe me when I tell you that that advice is worth more than gold. After all," he admitted. "That's what I told my grandson, and look how _he _turned out!"

Everyone in front of him either nodded their agreement (in the case of Joey, Chazz and the girls) or looked down in amazement (in the case of Syrus, Ophelia and Kenzan) at how such simple, homespun advice had guided Yugi to becoming the King of Games. "One thing though, sir," asked Chazz, "Why did you keep recycling Gather Your Mind during the Duel?"

Solomon looked up at him. "Let me guess, you're thinking that it's a useless card for any Deck," he said. Chazz admittedly nodded and Solomon gave him a nod. "I can understand why. But believe me children, the one thing you should understand about this game is that no card is useless. Even a card so seemingly pointless as Gather Your Mind. Think about this," he explained. "Before they were in my hand, the pieces of Exodia that I needed to win were buried deep in my Deck. And after a card effect adds a card from one's Deck to their hand, what immediately happens next?"

"The Deck is shuffled," explained Alexis, not getting it at first, but then her eyes widened. "So _that's _why you played it!" Solomon nodded as everyone else looked confused at Alexis. "What do you mean, Lex?" asked Jasmine.

"It's like this," said Alexis, "Just as Mr. Muto said, the Exodia pieces were buried deep in his Deck where he might not draw them in time. By playing and recycling Gather Your Mind, Mr. Muto was repeatedly shuffling his Deck to move the Exodia pieces further up to where he might have a better chance of drawing them!"

"You _clever_ devil!" remarked Ophelia. "Nobody would ever think of doing that! _Just _what anyone would expect from the man 'o raised the King of Games!"

Solomon rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Aw shucks," he muttered. "You youngsters praise me too much." He checked his watch. "Anyway, I hate to do this to you all, but I'm afraid that I'll be closing the shop a little early today. My grandson's coming home today and his flight gets in at two-fifteen. I want to make sure that we're ready to welcome him home." He turned to Téa. "Is dinner ready?" The brunette nodded her head. "By the way Joey, I'll be needing your help," she added. The blonde man agreed to help and followed her into the store.

Alexis turned to her peers. "I think it's time we get going," she said. "I know it's only noon, but we still have an _immensely _fun day ahead of us. Besides, this seems like a private affair between friends and family." Her peers nodded and they all bid goodbye to Solomon before walking off. The old man smiled as the young ones of today walked off into the distance. He watched them until he couldn't see them anymore before walking over to the nearest broom and sweeping. No grandson of his would come home to a dirty house, that's for sure. But while he was making that clear to himself, a sleek, black sedan pulled up the Kame Game store. The rear door opened, and a young man in his twenties stepped out. His hair was bizarrely-shaped, and his jacket almost looked like the one he'd worn in high school. Nonetheless though, he breathed in the nice air and smiled. _It's good to be home, _he thought. He walked up to the old man who'd raised him all these years whose back was turned to him.

"Hello Grandpa," he greeted warmly. Solomon turned around and gave his grandson the world-renowned champion the best grandpa hug he could ever ask for. "How are you, my boy?" he asked. "But before you answer that, what are you doing home so early?"

"I took an earlier flight home, Grandpa. I'm sorry for not telling you; I would've if my phone hadn't run out of battery." He indicated the broom. "I can sweep for you if you'd like."

"Nonsense," Solomon waved his hand, dismissing the thought. "Not when there's people inside who haven't seen you for weeks who would love to see you again." He opened the door and walked in, noticing that the wastebasket was up to its helm. "The garbage cans need emptying again, though." He bent down as best he could to pick the can up when two much younger hands prevented him. "Don't," implored Yugi. "I'll do it for you."

"Nonsense! I may be old, but I'm still hardy! Besides, your friends want to greet the champion!"

"Grandpa, please," insisted Yugi. "I may be the King of Games, but that doesn't mean I can get out of doing my part. Isn't that what you kept telling me all these years?" He took off his shoes, and, despite his grandfather's protests, ran up the stairs to collect all the garbage from the upper floors.

Solomon shook his head before going outside to finish sweeping. But he couldn't help wiping a tear from his eye. "Bless that boy," he murmured. "The world champion ten times over, but once he gets home the first thing he does is his chores." He smiled to himself. "I really did the world a favor by raising him, didn't I?"

# # #

Jaden perched in the crook of a tree hanging above a small clearing in Fuck Forest. Just below him, Marauding Captain was scouting the area, making plenty of noise as he did so. _How the hell am I supposed to get this guy alone? _he asked himself. He then shook off the uncomfortable notion that he'd just said that in a place called Fuck Forest. _This place needs a new name, _he thought, even though the thousands of discarded bras, panties, boxers, shirts, pants, shoes, socks and other miscellaneous clothing items lying strewn about all over the place told him otherwise, and if the scene wasn't gratuitous enough, there were also several used boxes of condoms strewn about the place too. It occurred to Jaden that since these monsters were looking for him, all he had to do was stay put where he was until they gave up and returned to where they came from. But that seemed unlikely, given how intently Marauding Captain was searching the forest. From the look on the Duel Spirit's face, they wouldn't return home empty-handed.

That's why he was planning to ambush them one-on-one: taking them each individually would be easier than engaging the group as a whole, especially for getting each monster back to where it came from before they caught him. The only question was _why _they were here to catch him, but for now, what mattered was catching _them _first, and the best way to do that was to isolate each man and tie him up. _In Fuck Forest._ Jaden shook his head to chase away the unwelcome thought. _Okay, _he reviewed, _I have my main plan of capturing each one of them individually and tying them up. The thing is though, what do I tie them up with? There's no rope out here, and I can't go back to the dorm where Freed-both of them-have probably got the area surrounded to see if I come back. Not that there'd be any rope at the dorm anyway. _Out of the corner of his eye, Jaden noticed a worn-down shack that looked like it was about to fall apart. _Hmm, maybe there's rope in there. _

But the problem there was he had to _get _to the shack, which would be difficult considering he was in a mostly green forest wearing a red jacket. Even when the color had faded to a much darker shade of red, the jacket still stood out against the lush greens and browns of the forest. _Honestly, _thought Jaden, looking out at Marauding Captain, _It's a miracle he hasn't seen me by now._ He looked back and forth between his intended capture and the shack, calculating the distance between them and wondering if he could slip into the latter without the former noticing. Jaden shifted in the tree so as to be able to take off his shoes; he had to if he wanted to avoid making noise. He tied the laces together, but not in a knot, so he could undo them later when all this was over. Keeping a firm grip on the branches, he slung his shoes around his neck and lowered himself and wrapped his legs, then his arms around the trunk. From there, he shinnied down until his socked feet hit the forest floor. He took his shoes off his neck and slipped his arms out of his jacket sleeves; wearing red would only get him caught. He removed his Duel Disk from his jacket sleeve, strapped it back onto his arm and wrapped his shoes in his jacket and folded it until it was a small red bundle and made his way towards the shack, painstakingly avoiding fallen leaves and twigs as he did so while freely stepping on the clothes, which would only muffle the sound and help to conceal him. Keeping an eye on Marauding Captain, he carefully made his way to the shack, which was about thirty feet away from the Duel Spirit by now.

There was no rope in the shack, unfortunately. Jaden cursed in his mind and looked around for something else he could use. He didn't see anything that met his criteria; an old sheet folded up on a shelf, some gardening tools, and, because it was located in Fuck Forest, there was a comfortable-looking mattress on the floor on one side of the shack, with a few worn-down masses of wax that were once candles beside it. Scattered on the mattress and topping off the display were two full sets of underwear, one male and one female.

Jaden bemoaned his accommodations as he removed his Duel Disk, putting it on an unused shelf. He unfolded his jacket to put his shoes back on. After double-knotting the laces and slipping comfortably back into his jacket, he took another look around the dilapidated place while putting his Duel Disk back on. He found his gaze returning to the folded-up sheet on the shelf. Picking it up, Jaden unfolded it at the creases, allowing the sheet's sides to spill out and reveal its full size.

Immediately a plan formed in the back of his mind. He engaged his Duel Disk and selected Elemental Hero Neos from his Deck, setting the card upon the Monster Card Zone. The hulking broad-shouldered cosmic warrior appeared beside Jaden, looking down expectantly. Jaden motioned for him to bend down so that he could whisper in his ear, and when Neos complied, Jaden explained his plan. "Can you do that?" he asked quietly. The Duel Spirit nodded, and Jaden handed him the sheet before exiting the shack. He climbed atop the roof to get a better view and noticed Marauding Captain almost fifty feet away. Not bothering to repeat the process with his shoes and jacket this time, he jumped down and stooped, moving fifty paces behind the taller man before he decided that it would be a much more convincing trap if he just allowed him to see him. So, forsaking all cover for what was a fairly basic trap, Jaden assumed his full height in full view of Marauding Captain, knowing full well that if he could see the Duel Spirit, the Duel Spirit could see him, and put his hands in his pockets, waiting patiently for Marauding Captain to see him. He faced a different direction while keeping sight of Marauding Captain in his peripheral vision; this way, it would look like Jaden had walked for a while but had just "accidentally" been seen. Jaden saw the Duel Monster turn and allowed his head to turn to meet Marauding Captain's gaze. The Duel Spirit ran for him; so far so good.

Pretending to be frightened, Jaden made a quarter-turn to the right and began running back the way he came, glancing back to make sure Marauding Captain was still chasing him. He ducked behind the shack, knowing that Neos would be alerted to the commotion outside and would thus be ready for action. He looked up and saw the armored Duel Monster on the roof of the shack, which surprisingly held the weight of the five-ten man dressed in heavy armor. "It's over, Haou," he snarled.

_Haou? _thought Jaden, confused. _What the fuck? _He didn't know why that monster was addressing him with that name, but he set aside his confusion as he remembered that he was supposed to be leading this guy into a trap. He kicked the door open and ran inside, hearing the _clang! _of metallic boots as Marauding Captain jumped down to follow him inside. While specifically avoiding the mattress for obvious reasons, Jaden settled down in a corner as Marauding Captain entered and advanced toward him, completely oblivious to the fact that there was a sheet behind him fully spread. "It's over Haou," he repeated. "Give up and come quietly."

Jaden looked at Marauding Captain and trusted that his comrade would come through. "NOW!" he shouted, causing the armored knight to flinch with the sudden increase of volume. Neos did his job perfectly: the six-foot-three-and-a-half-inch extraterrestrial warrior brought down the old musty sheet over Marauding Captain's head and immediately put the shorter man in a bear hug before lifting him off the ground to prevent him from trying anything. The smaller man kicked and screamed, and even tried to give Neos a reverse-headbutt, which failed, given the sheet and the fact that his head was only level with Neos' chest. "Let me out, Haou!" he threatened. "I've got comrades and they won't take nicely to you capturing me!"

"Answer a few questions first," Jaden retorted. "First off, what's with this 'Haou' business? Second, why the hell are you after me?" The answer to the first question came from a surprising source. _"Haou," _explained Yubel through the mind link, _"Is the name given to the Supreme King at birth." _

This took Jaden by surprise. _But my name isn't Haou, _he replied, confused. _"Not you," _Yubel clarified, _"Your past life." _Jaden turned back to Marauding Captain. _How does he know about that? _he asked. Yubel replied that she did not know, so Jaden cleared his throat and addressed Marauding Captain. "You still haven't answered my second question," he said, "And now I have another: how do you know about my past life?"

"I don't know anything about a past life!" snapped the man in the sheet. "I just know that we're here to arrest the despot guilty of mass murder and crimes against humanity!" Jaden froze; he had a vague inkling of what this was all about now.

Before he could say anything however, he was startled by a metal spiked ball piercing the wall behind him. The ball disappeared, leaving behind a rather large hole in the side of the shack. Jaden went to peek through it to see, but stopped in his tracks as two large hands grabbed the sides of the hole and tore the rest of the wall apart. Jaden looked up into the Matchless General's eyes as the bigger man leered down at him. "I'm surprised Haou," he admitted, "I thought you were smarter than this, but you ended up taking our bait and getting caught quite easily. How disappointing."

"I'm not caught yet," Jaden replied. "Neos!" Nothing happened. Jaden turned around to see Neos struggling to obey his master's commands. He turned back to Freed. "What're you doing to him?"

"Neos can't move," explained the Matchless General, "Thanks to Marauding Captain's effect, you see. His ability summoned my younger self here the moment you captured him, and I followed suit. The reason your monster can't move is because when Marauding Captain's out, the enemy cannot attack any other Warriors."

Jaden narrowed his eyes. _Just like in Duel Monsters, _he thought. He turned to look at Neos, who struggled helplessly as his master was surrounded and outmanned. Big mistake; a second after turning around to focus on Neos, Jaden heard a hissing sound that could only be metal on metal. He wheeled around and thrust his Duel Disk between him and the Matchless General's metal forearm just in time. "Don't just stand there!" the Matchless General called to his two comrades. "Get him!"

Charubin the Fire Knight drew the flail that had torn the initial hole in the shack's wall and charged forward. But Freed the Brave Wanderer did no such thing. "Listen!" he called. "We can reason here! He's only resisting us because we charged at him!"

Jaden had no idea why the younger Freed was suggesting diplomacy when his older version and friends decided otherwise. Suddenly, the younger Freed moved faster than the eye could see, landing beside Jaden to intercept the Fire Knight's flail, which clanged loudly but harmlessly against his armor. To the red youth behind him, he said, "Listen, I know you're a better man than you were then, but we just need you to come with us back to our dimension!"

_What? _Jaden thought, _Why do they want me to go back there? _He threw off the Matchless General's forearm with as much strength as he could muster and dove through the hole, tucking his head behind his knees as he hit the ground, rolling in a somersault. He stood back up and prepared to draw a card, but he saw the Matchless General smile and pointed down. _Huh? What's he pointing at? _Jaden asked himself. Looking down, he saw the grey, green and blue spiked side panels of a monster called Mega Thunderball that had just rolled between his feet. Before he could scoop it up, Jaden felt an electrical surge course painfully throughout his body; the damn thing was shocking him!

With a yell, he collapsed in a heap, which wasn't helped by the fact that he landed _on top _of Mega Thunderball. His vision blurred as he saw the four knights come up to him. "Haou," said the Matchless General in an authoritative tone, "You are under arrest for mass murder and crimes against humanity." Jaden's wrists suddenly went cold as he felt Charubin slip handcuffs on them, pulling them behind his back. "There," said the Matchless General, mocking Jaden's earlier statement. "_Now _you're caught." He pushed Jaden off of Mega Thunderball and reeled his fist back before slugging him hard in the gut. Still paralyzed from the shock, Jaden could only swear at Freed in his mind before his entire world went black.

Freed the Brave Wanderer watched in shock as his older brother struck the boy in the red jacket, who by now was completely defenseless. "There was no need to do that," he insisted. "That was uncalled for." He suddenly reeled back as the older Freed smacked him hard. "Uncalled for?" snapped the Matchless General. "Uncalled for is trying to protect him from being caught! You stopped Charubin's attack, younger brother! What do you have to say to that?! Are you turning against us?!"

"Of course not!" said the younger Freed. Pointing at Charubin's flail, he countered, "You saw how easily Charubin tore down the wall with that thing! Imagine what it could've done to that boy! If not for me, Charubin would've killed him!" He glared at the Fire Knight. "Just like how he kills _everyone _he fights."

"That's enough!" snapped the older Freed. "You're out of line! I understand that you believe in diplomacy brother, but this is Haou we're dealing with. I highly doubt I'll be castigated for doing to him a mere _fraction _of what he did to others!" he looked down at the unconscious figure lying on the ground. "In fact, they'll probably commend me for doing so."

"There are _rules, _General. Proper procedure, due process!"

"Hey!" snapped the General. "Be glad that your efforts have already gotten him due process, alright? As I recall, in exchange for Haou getting due process, you were supposed to help us _apprehend_ him, _which_ you didn'tdo!" he glared at his younger brother. "Is this because you once fought by his side against Scarr of Dark World?"

"No," explained the Brave Wanderer, "It's because he's a better man than he was then. I can tell. I can feel it inside of him." His older brother groaned, but softened his expression towards his younger brother and even put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you always try to look for the best in people, younger brother, but again, this is _Haou _we're dealing with. There _is _no best in him to look for."

"You're wrong," said the younger Freed. "You're absolutely wrong. It's there, you just can't see it."

"Maybe it's because he, y'know, killed thousands of people and ruined the lives of millions of others?" asked Marauding Captain, walking over to pick up Jaden and sling him over his shoulder. When the red boy had fallen unconscious, his monster had dematerialized, allowing the warrior to free himself. Before the Brave Wanderer could respond, there was an impatient grunt from Charubin the Fire Knight. "Come _on,_" he pleaded. "Let's go back before anyone sees us." The others agreed, and Mega Thunderball rose out of the ground, generating lightning as it went. The lightning struck the warriors and in a flash of light, they were all gone.

# # #

"Wake up, asshole."

Jaden's senses went into overdrive as he felt _freezing _cold water splash all over him from all directions. "Ahhh, _fuck!_" he yelled. A hand picked him up and Jaden looked up into the Matchless General's face for the third or fourth time that day. Freed slugged him in the gut, _right _where he'd done it the first time. "Watch your mouth, _vermin,_" he scolded. "There are women and young ones present."

_What? _Jaden fought the pain that engulfed his midsection and looked up around him to see the faces of… Duel Monsters, thousands of them. And like Freed had said, there were women and children among them. "What's going on?" he asked. Somewhat impatiently, Freed turned him around so he could see. They were outdoors, and a row of seats were divided into two sections behind a wooden barrier. A bench full of people stood to the right of two tables, which were before a three-fold stand.

Jaden recognized the setup; the only question was why it was outdoors. He shivered suddenly as a cold wind whipped across the landscape. Everyone else he noticed was warmly clad; only he was subjected to the mercy of the freezing cold wind. He tried to rub his arms to get the blood flowing, but when he moved them, he felt a tightening around his wrists; he was still handcuffed. Jaden suddenly became aware that his left arm was lighter than it should be. He checked quickly: his Duel Disk was gone!

"This way," ordered Freed, grabbing Jaden by the neck and the collar of his jacket. He led him by the collar down the aisle to the table to the right. Jaden stumbled and fell; Freed hoisted him back onto his feet by the collar. "Do you really have to be so rough?" Jaden asked him. The surly expression on the Matchless General's face grew even surlier as he leaned down into Jaden's face. "Be grateful," he snarled. "If the judge had listenedto me, you'd be led down here on a _leash._" He stood with Jaden behind the table as Duel Monsters came up to the left table and stood behind it. A Duel Monster called Judge Man entered the middle stand and banged his gavel. "Be seated," he said, and everyone complied. Freed the Matchless General pulled Jaden rather roughly into a chair.

"Court is now in session," Judge Man rumbled in a deep voice. He turned to look at Jaden. "We are here today to bear witness to the trial of Haou, the Supreme King."

**End of Chapter 4**

**Alright, this one took awhile to finish, but I'm glad I finally got to it. I appreciate all your reviews guys and gals, so keep them coming as they really do keep me going. Also, let me know if I did the Blue-Eyes White Dragon proper justice with the introduction I gave it. **

**I realize that I probably put the Duel between Ophelia and Solomon in this chapter just for the sake of having a Duel in there, so I promise not to fall into that trap next time. I understand that not ****_every _****chapter needs a Duel in it, although I really think that people enjoyed seeing Solomon Duel again. **

**Now that I'm home for the summer, I'll see what I can do about writing more chapters. I think you'll be surprised as to where I'm headed with this series if not shocked by what I do here.**

**By the way, about Ophelia Rayne; I'm aware of a term called "Mary Sue/Gary Stu" which means anything in a written work that's meant to serve as wish fulfillment of the author, so in case you're wondering, I'll admit that Ophelia _is_ a Mary Sue/Gary Stu to a small degree. I don't know which one's applied here as I'm a guy and Ophelia's a girl, but rest assured readers, that Ophelia ****_will not be romantically involved with any of the characters. _****This I promise you. She'll serve a different kind of wish fulfillment for me, a non-romantic kind. I'm not giving any more information about that, so please, enjoy this chapter. God knows Jaden didn't.**

**Sincerely,**

**The Author**

**P.S. I hope you guys found Joey as funny in this chapter as I intended him to be. And if the bit about the girls agreeing to make him a sandwich offends anybody, let me know so that I can change it to something less offensive.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Cards with an asterisk are ones I've created myself, cards with two are pre-existing ones that I've changed because I didn't like their previous effects and that I think I've created a better effect for.**

**I should apologize in advance for the Duel in this chapter. Once again I gave in to the temptation to have a Duel in every chapter when I know that it doesn't need to be the case. What's more, the Duel's relatively short compared to the other two. I'm sorry.**

Chapter 5 - _Ice_

The Matchless General leaned in close. "_Former _Supreme King," he asserted in a sinister whisper, "Once you're judged guilty." He gave Jaden his version of a smile. It sent chills down the boy's spine, although Jaden couldn't tell what he was shivering from: this dick's unnerving grin or the freezing cold wind that whipped away at his body heat, threatening to give him hypothermia if he didn't bundle up soon.

"Please," he begged Freed, "You've got to get me something warm. A blanket, a coat, _anything._" But Freed just looked back at him unsympathetically. "You've got a jacket," he said, cold and curt. He folded his arms across his chest, indicating he was done talking.

Jaden turned to look at Judge Man, feeling cold and nervous. Then he looked at the jury, seeing all the people who because of him and those he'd commanded now had broken ribs and limbs (some had missing limbs), missing eyes covered by patches and scars of all sorts, be them from burns, cuts or otherwise on their faces, and given how some were wincing, on other parts of their bodies as well. Jaden's heart sank as he saw more than a few women in the jury avert his gaze when he looked at them. His body went even colder than it was when he realized the possible cause. He closed his eyes and gave a quick, silent prayer hoping that it hadn't happened and that they were avoiding his gaze for some other reason, one less horrifying than what he was thinking.

He turned back to look at Judge Man, the person who would decide his fate and couldn't help but feel nervous. He was sure that the big, burly judge would sentence him to death for what he'd done as the Supreme King. Jaden suddenly became aware that the younger Freed, the Brave Wanderer, was strangely absent. He looked over at the older Freed and decided to risk it. "Where's Freed the Brave Wanderer?" he asked him. The older Freed turned his head to Jaden. "Out looking for character witnesses," he grumbled, "For some stupid reason, my brother's going to argue that you should be allowed to go back to your home dimension and be watched rather than given a _proper _punishment." Jaden sat back in his chair and faced forward. _Why would he do that? _he wondered, _And who does he think will vouch for me?_

All of a sudden there was a bright flash of light from one side of the outdoor setup. Everyone turned to see the people walking in. Most people didn't recognize the figures walking in, but Jaden knew who they were. "Jim, Axel, Jesse!" he called out. The three boys waved back to him nervously. Jaden suddenly felt a stinging pain in his right ear as Freed the Matchless General cuffed him by it, yanked him back down into his chair and turned his head around to face the judge. "No talking unless you're spoken to!" he hissed. Jaden cursed in his thoughts: he was shivering cold and couldn't even lift his cuffed hand from behind his back to nurse his ear.

Seeing the minor incident from where he was, Jesse's temper flared. "What the hell are they doin'?!" he asked indignantly. "Why's Jaden shiverin'? An' why'd that other guy cuff him on the ear?"

"Shhh!" hushed Axel. "Keep your cool, Jesse. No use getting angry here. From what I see here around us, these people have much more of a reason to be angry than we do, so let's all stay as calm as we can." Jesse turned around to protest, but Jim held up a hand. "I'm afraid Axel's right, mate," he concurred. "If we get hot an' bothered, it'll only cause more problems than we need, so just stay calm."

Jesse folded his arms across his chest. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll stay calm, but I won't like it." Axel and Jim exchanged glances; Jesse Anderson shared a lot of Jaden's traits, and they were worried that Jesse might say or do something to get them held in contempt of court. But to his credit, Jesse remained true to his word and tried to stay as calm as he could. But there was a lot the three of them didn't understand about this situation. For example, why was Jaden being put on trial? Why was he the only one without anything warm on? (It was this question that was making Jesse mutter under his breath at Jaden's treatment.) But the most worrisome question that raced through all three men's minds was the outcome of the trial: _What'll they do to him if he's judged guilty? _They turned around as Freed the Brave Wanderer tapped them each on the shoulder and brought them in closer. "Listen," he said, "Jaden is being put on trial for his actions as the Supreme King. I've gathered you three here to testify as character witnesses on his behalf. I'm going back to your world to fetch more, but in the meantime, you three _must _comply with what these people ask you to do. Can you do that?"

Axel nodded. "We will," he assured him. Jim echoed his statement and promised him that he'd behave. Freed turned to Jesse, unsure of whether or not he could trust him to comply; from what he'd heard, this one was a very passionate individual. That would come in handy for when he gave his testimony, but passion often came with a temper, and this boy would have to keep his in check if he wanted to help his friend. To his surprise, Jesse reiterated what he'd said earlier to Jim and Axel: he'd comply, but he wouldn't like it. He turned to take his leave when he heard Jesse say, "Wait." He turned to face him, and Jesse asked, "What are they gonna do to Jaden?" he asked. "These folks are lookin' at 'im like they're gonna throw him under a bus."

Freed sighed. "Many of these people are hoping your friend receives the death penalty," he admitted. Seeing Jesse's mouth move to utter a protest, he quickly added, "But that's why I brought you here: to make sure he doesn't." At this, Jesse's mouth formed a thin, flat line. He wasn't content with what Freed had told him, but he relented anyway because he knew that the honor-bound knight was doing everything he could to help Jaden by bringing them here: it was up to them now to testify on their friend's behalf to make sure he wasn't killed by their hand. _Right,_ thought Jesse, _If I want to save Jaden from the chair, I've got to do everythin' I can. _He looked at Axel and Jim and followed their gaze, looking around apprehensively at everyone in the seats, then at Jaden, cold with a sore ear and then at Judge Man. Jesse gulped a little at the latter's size. _I better give one hell of a testimony, _he added nervously.

Freed breathed a sigh of relief as he felt sure that Jesse would stay calm and collected. Focusing on the dimension from where he'd brought the three boys and the location of the group of people he was looking for, he closed his eyes and disappeared in a flash of light.

# # #

The afternoon sun shone on the happy group of teens as they walked back to where Yugi Dueled Strings. "I got a crazy idea!" said Syrus suddenly. "Let's not just Duel _here, _let's also go and Duel at every place where Yugi did in Battle City!" The others nodded approvingly. "Cool idea," said Alexis, "It'll be exciting, like our own little version of Battle City. Besides, having all our Duels here in the same place would just get boring anyway."

"Let's put it to a vote," said Blair, "All in favor of Syrus' plan?" She was met with a barrage of "Aye!" and a palpable silence when she asked to hear from those opposed. "So it's unanimous!" said Mindy. "Where should we Duel first?"

Kenzan pulled out his guidebook. "The skyscraper where Yugi and Seto Kaiba fought a Tag Battle against two Rare Hunters is only a few blocks from here," he offered. "We could go there." The others agreed to it, and after they slung their bags around their shoulders, they set off to find the famed building, leaving the place where Yugi Dueled Strings deserted.

Once they were gone, a flash of light appeared and faded as soon as it had come, leaving a confused Freed standing in the middle of the deserted area with no one around. "Damn," he muttered, "Missed them." He checked his pocketwatch. _Better hurry, _he urged himself, _The trial's already started, and if I can't get all my character witnesses in time, the prosecution will convict Jaden before anyone gets a chance to testify on his behalf!_

Focusing his power, he went into Spirit Form where only those with the gift could see him, and took off in search of those he needed.

# # #

"Here we are!" called Kenzan, drawing everyone else to the building they sought. They entered and headed for the elevator that would take them to the rooftop floor. "Hey Hassleberry," said Syrus, "Remember the last time we were here?"

The burly Ra Yellow nodded. "We had to put aside our differences and Duel as a team against two people working for some Sarina chick who was tryin' to set her brother Sartorius free from the Light of Destruction," he smiled as he recalled the memory. "I remember us whuppin' 'em good." Seeing Alexis and Ophelia's confused expressions, he added, "Long story. You were with the Society Alexis."

"Oh," the Queen of Obelisk Blue nodded her head, although she frowned at not being able to recall the memory. But she didn't focus on it for long as she heard the elevator make a _ding_ing noise as it reached the rooftop. She disembarked with the rest and asked, "Okay, who wants to go first?" Seeing no takers among her peers from Duel Academy, she turned to Ophelia. "You don't mind fighting three Duels in a row today, do you?"

"Of course not," grinned the British girl. She and Alexis were just about to go to opposite sides of the roof when…

"Wait!" called out Mindy. "This area is known for Tag Duels! Maybe we should have a Tag Duel also!" She turned and pulled on Jasmine's arm. "Come on! Jasmine and I will be on one team, and Alexis and Ophelia will be on the other!"

"That's alright, Mindy," said Alexis, "If it's alright, I'd like to Duel Ophelia one-on-one." Her fellow Obelisk Blue protested and even made a pouting face, but Alexis didn't change her mind. With a sigh, Mindy relented and contented herself to watch, just like she had the last two times.

The two girls walked to opposite sides of the rooftop. Each girl strapped on her Academy's Duel Disk and engaged it after shuffling and inserting their Decks. Their Life Point counters lit up and displayed 8000 for the both of them. "LET'S DUEL!"

Since Rayne had gone first in her last two Duels, she gave Alexis the first turn. The Obelisk Blue girl thanked her and drew her card for her first turn. "I'll Summon Frost Tiger in Attack Mode, and Set two cards face-down. I end my turn."

**Frost Tiger (WATER):**

**Level 4**

**[Aqua]**

**ATK/ 1900 DEF/ 1800**

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you're wondering where Alexis has used this card, log onto the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia and look up her manga Deck. That's where it is.)

"'Ere I come!" called Rayne, drawing her first card. She surveyed Alexis' side of the field and her hand, weighing her options carefully. _Alright, so she's started off with a monster of nineteen 'undred Attack Points. Question is, why? An' she's got two face-down cards as well. If I just go in an' attack with one of my monsters, she could just activate one of 'er face-downs. Can't say I want that._ She selected a card from her hand. _So I'll go on the defensive instead an' see what she does. _"I Summon Returning Fairy in Defense Mode."

**Returning Fairy* (LIGHT)**

**Level 2**

**[Fairy/Effect]**

**You can send this banished card to the Graveyard to negate all damage you take this turn. During your Main Phase, you can banish 1 card from your Deck and add it to your hand after 2 of your turns.**

**ATK/ 340 DEF/ 350**

(SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: You'll notice that Returning Fairy has an Attack Power of _340. _That's not a typo. I just think that there should be more monsters with just the ones whose points end in the typical -00 or -50. The latter one is becoming rarer unfortunately.)

"Next I activate Returnin' Fairy's effect," Rayne continued, "During me Main Phase, I'm allowed to banish a card from me Deck an' add it to my 'and after two of my turns. I'll banish a second Returning Fairy an' then Set a card face-down. That ends my turn."

_Hmmm, _thought Alexis, a little disappointed. _I was hoping that she'd attack so I could activate Doble Passé and take some damage so that Frost Tiger could strike back. But it seems Rayne's wary of me, so I'll just have to try something else. _She drew her card and smiled at it. She glanced at Cyber Prima staring up at her. _I could play Cyber Prima. _She glanced at two Spell Cards in her hand and smiled to herself. _Yes, that's what I'll do. But _first _I need to make sure that I'll still have Frost Tiger when I'm done. _Alexis grinned. _Get ready, Rayne. _"I Summon Ice Doll in Defense Mode!"

**Ice Doll (WATER):**

**Level 2**

**[Aqua]**

**ATK/ 800 DEF/ 1000**

"But by Normal Summoning a monster, I can activate _this!_" Alexis took the card from her hand and placed it in the slot. "My Allegro Toile Spell Card!"

**Allegro Toile:**

**Quick-Play Spell Card**

**When you Normal Summon a monster: destroy 1 opponent's Spell or Trap Card.**

"This Spell Card destroys one of my opponent's Spell or Trap Cards when I Normal Summon a monster!" Alexis announced, "So your face-down card's destroyed!" Rayne cringed as her Aerial Maneuver Trap was destroyed. _Bollocks, _she thought. _She must've known that I prepared for an attack. _She smiled. _But she's unaware of Returnin' Fairy's _other _effect! _

Alexis activated another Spell Card from her hand. "Next I activate Prima Light!"

**Prima Light**:**

**Quick-Play Spell Card**

**Tribute 1 monster: Special Summon 1 Level 6 Warrior-Type monster from your hand.**

"So now," continued Alexis, "I'll sacrifice my Ice Doll to Special Summon Cyber Prima!"

**Cyber Prima (LIGHT):**

**Level 6**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**When this card's Tribute Summoned, destroy all face-up Spell Cards on the field.**

**ATK/ 2300 DEF/ 1600**

Alexis pointed to Rayne's sole monster. "Now Frost Tiger attacks Returning Fairy!" As if on cue, Frost Tiger perked up and pounced on Rayne's only monster. Alexis frowned as she noticed that Rayne wasn't bothered at all by it. "And now Cyber Prima attacks directly!"

"It's a shame it won't do anything!" Rayne countered. "I activate Returning Fairy's effect! When she's banished, I can send 'er to the Graveyard to negate all damage I take this turn!" She pulled her second copy of Returning Fairy from her pocket and placed it in her Graveyard. A transparent image of Returning Fairy appeared in front of her to be destroyed by Cyber Prima's kick. Alexis bit her lip. She'd used up her hand for that last move, and Rayne had easily escaped it. _I'm not looking very good, am I? _Alexis asked herself, although she didn't take it too seriously; it wasn't like she didn't have any other cards she could play. "I end my turn," she shrugged and gave Rayne the floor.

Kenzan rubbed his chin. "Alexis doesn't look too good. She used up her entire hand for that last move, and Rayne easily trumped it."

"Remember though, Alexis has the field advantage," said Chazz. "Just like I did."

"While Rayne has the hand advantage," added Blair. "Either way, Rayne's turn will her time to launch a major counterattack."

Rayne drew for her turn. _Alright, so the only copy of Returning Fairy I 'ad banished is now in my Graveyard an' I've no other way to banish another one, _she thought. She looked at her hand. _Not too much trouble. _"I Summon Rocket Pilfer in Attack Mode!"

**Rocket Pilfer* (FIRE)**

**Level 3**

**[Machine/Effect]**

**When this card attacks an opponent's monster, reduce the attack target's ATK by 1000 and raise this card's ATK by the same amount until the end of the Battle Phase.**

**ATK/ 900 DEF/ 1800**

Chazz grinned. "Ah, _that _card again. I wonder how Alexis will do against it." He leaned back against a structure on the rooftop. "No doubt she'll use a tactic she picked up from me."

"What tactic?" asked Syrus. "All you did to destroy it was attack it with a monster with higher Attack Points, which is _so _basic it's not even funny."

"Suck a dick, Truesdale."

Rayne pointed to Cyber Prima. "An' now Rocket Pilfer attacks Cyber Prima!"

"Not so fast!" shouted Alexis. "Activate Trap, Doble Passé!"

**Doble Passé:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**Activate when your opponent attacks an Attack Position monster you control: it becomes a direct attack. Then the monster originally selected as the attack target attacks your opponent directly.**

"This Trap Card changes your attack to a direct attack!" said Alexis, "And since Rocket Pilfer's new attack target is a player, its effect doesn't apply!" She grimaced but held firm as Rocket Pilfer struck her, reducing her Life Points to 7100.

Rayne's brow furrowed. "Why would you do that?" she asked. "It doesn't make any sense." Alexis just smiled back at her. "Because after I'm attacked directly, the monster originally selected as the attack target gets to attack _you _directly!"

"What?!" Rayne exclaimed. She held her arm in front of her as if to deflect the blow as Cyber Prima struck her for 2300 points of damage, bringing her Life Points down to 5700. _Shite, _she thought, _She managed to 'it me for more damage than I 'it 'er for! _She looked over at Alexis. _This one's good! _

Kenzan smiled. "I love Duels like this," he opined. "Where both players are unleashin' sick combos an' killer moves! Hot damn, I wanna Duel next!"

"Easy Hass," said Jasmine. "You'll get your turn."

Rayne checked her hand. She didn't want to lose Rocket Pilfer since it was an effective way to take out her opponent's stronger monsters. _But with this card, _she thought to herself, _I won't 'ave to._ "I'll Set one card an' end my turn."

Alexis drew for her turn. "I activate Hand Re-Stock!"

**Hand Re-Stock*:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Each player draws until they have 6 cards in their hand.**

"With this, we both draw until we have six cards in our hands," Alexis announced. She placed two fingers on her Deck and began drawing, while Rayne drew three. "Smart move right there," said Mindy. "Replenishing her hand was definitely the best move to make."

Chazz raised an eyebrow. "Well, no shit, since it was the _only _move to make, what with it being the only card in her hand and all." Jazz and Mindy shot him death glares, but he paid them no mind. Meanwhile, Kenzan was thinking. "That effect sounds familiar," he noted. "Wasn't that Card of Sanctity's effect?"

"Well yeah, but that was before Industrial Illusions nerfed the effect and made it suck ass," said Chazz. "I mean, who the fuck would want to play a card that banishes all cards from your hand and field to draw only _two _cards? They should give it the effect it had ten years ago." Everyone else nodded their agreement. "Fortunately Chumley created that card to circumvent it," said Syrus, "We can always count on him to preserve good card effects." His peers nodded. "Amen brother," agreed Jazz, "Amen."

Meanwhile, Alexis was surveying the six new cards in her hand. "I Summon Illusion Ice Sculpture in Attack Mode!"

**Illusion Ice Sculpture (WATER):**

**Level 1**

**[Rock/Effect]**

**When this card's Summoned, select 1 face-up monster you control. This card's ATK and DEF become equal to that monster's original ATK and DEF. While this card's face-up on the field, other monsters you control cannot be selected as attack targets. There can only be 1 face-up "Illusion Ice Sculpture" on the field.**

**ATK/ 0 DEF/ 0**

"Whoa, whoa whoa, what're you doing there, Alexis?" asked Kenzan. "That card was one of the cards Sartorius brainwashed you to use! Why're you using it?"

"Because," Alexis called back, smiling to relieve her friend's worry, "Even if some evil alien force brainwashed me into using it, it's still a good card, Kenz! Don't worry, I'm in control of myself!"

Rayne was confused. "'Old on, what's all this about brainwashing and blokes named Sartorius?"

"It's nothing!" said Chazz, "Just some alien dickbag who made Lex and I do stuff, it's a long story, but it happened a year ago, so don't worry about it!"

"Uhhhhhhmmmmmm," replied Rayne, thinking he was fit for a madhouse. "_Okay._"

While Alexis focused on the Duel, Jazz and Mindy took the time to explain it to Kenzan. "It's not just Illusion Ice Sculpture, it's all the cards Sartorius made her use except for his White Night cards," Mindy explained. "Think about it this way, if the cards that some evil jerk brainwashed you to use were still really good cards, would you use them?"

Kenzan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know…" he trailed off, but Jazz played her trump card (no pun intended): "Think of it this way," she said, "Free cards."

"Try thinking about this," added Mindy, "When Jaden freed her from Sartorius' mind control, she gets both her free will back _and_ a sick bunch of cards while she's at it."

"Huh," murmured Kenzan, "Okay. Thanks for explaining it to me, ladies."

"Don't mention it."

"Yeah," said Mindy, "Besides, Alexis already had some ice cards of her own _before _Sartorius made her use those ones, so now you have a better idea of why she kept them. It's only because they're good cards that already fit somewhat into her Deck, not because of anything else."

"Alright," said Kenzan, his worries alleviated. "Makes sense."

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Syrus. "I wonder how Big Bro would react to seeing her use those cards," he wondered. "I mean, she almost froze him over with them, and he fought tooth and nail to save her."

"I'm sure he'd understand," said Kenzan. "Sarge always understood. Not that Alexis, or any of us are on his mind for that matter." The three boys looked downwards, somewhat sadly remembering him. "If I may ask," inquired Jasmine, "What happened between you guys?"

"It's a long story," replied Syrus. "He wasn't the same after the incident in that other dimension with Yubel. Whenever we tried to get him to come out of his room, he just told us to go away." He looked down sadly. "I wonder if he still thinks of us as his friends."

Feeling sorry to see him so sad, Mindy walked over and gave Syrus a little hug to cheer him up. "It's okay," she said, "I'm sure Jaden has his reasons for being the way he is. Besides, you guys are really being brought down by this when there's an amazing Duel going on, so I suggest you stop worrying about things that dampen your spirits and focus on the here and now." Syrus looked up at her, smiling. "Thanks Mindy," he said appreciatively. The Obelisk Blue girl waved her hand and dismissed her gesture as nothing with a smile.

"Speaking of cold though," Jasmine brought up, "It's going to be cold tonight at the school, so we'll all be feeling chilly."

"Yeah," chimed in Syrus. But as he turned his attention back to the Duel, he couldn't help but think, _I wonder if feeling cold tonight will make Jaden remember that time._

# # #

While Alexis and her choice of cards had nothing to do with it, Jaden _was _in fact feeling insanely cold; the red-coated youth shivered and shook as the freezing wind blew against him while Judge Man called up the prosecution. In fact, he was shaking and shivering so much that he looked as if he were convulsing. Not that the Matchless General gave a damn; for all he cared, the bastard next to him that had ravaged his homeland, destroyed thousands of homes, killed myriads of people and ruined millions of lives could drop dead, and he was positive that many who were present in the stands would share his sentiments. The older Freed had gotten up from his seat and paced to the center of the courtroom setup where he would explain his presence and what he would do, for he himself was the prosecution. "I am here," he began, "To serve as plaintiff for our people in this case against the _tyrant_ before us known as Haou, the Supreme King. I will be attempting here today to prove his guilt."

In the third row of seats behind the railing that separated them from the plaintiff and defendant benches, Jesse Anderson's brow furrowed. _Haou? _he thought, _Why're they calling him that? That's not who he is at all! _But next to him, Axel Brodie and Jim Cook exchanged apprehensive glances; they'd both faced the Supreme King individually in Duels, and he'd been a ruthless opponent. Unlike Jesse, who's spirit had been exorcised from his own body and placed inside one of his cards, the other two could remember Jaden being that cold, dark, intimidating person with so little regard for life. _So that's what Jaden's dark side's called, _thought Jim, _I wouldn't like to meet 'im again, and I hope we never do during this trial. _For his part, Axel was thinking similar thoughts. Jesse meanwhile tried to see around the heads in front of him to get a better look at his friend. He didn't look supreme at all.

In fact, Jaden looked completely impotent, unable to do anything besides rub his ear on his shoulder in a feeble attempt to nurse it. Jesse noticed his friend's hands cuffed behind his back. Angered by seeing a good friend treated like this, Jesse began picturing himself excoriating the Matchless General, chewing him out and tearing him a new one, _really _giving him a piece of his mind on Jaden's poor treatment. But what bothered him more than seeing Jaden treated like this was that his friend's head was pointed down, as if he were _sorry _for something, perhaps the allegation of mass murder the Brave Wanderer had told him about that Jaden was facing. _That's ridiculous, _Jesse thought, _I know Jaden; he'd never do anything to hurt anybody. _Looking over at Axel and Jim however, he was shocked to see recognition on their faces, as if they _knew _about it beforehand and he hadn't.

"What's goin' on?" he whispered to the other two in as quiet a voice as he could muster. "Why's Jaden being charged with mass murder? He'd never do anything to hurt anybody." To his surprise, Axel shook his head. "You weren't there, Jess," the brawny boy replied. "You didn't see what happened. We _did_."

"What?" uttered Jesse, not liking what he was hearing and dreading where it was going.

As much as he hated to anguish Jesse, Jim added, "We saw bodies, mate. We both Dueled against the Supreme King. My eye was able to determine that it was him." He took a breath and exhaled palpably. "Jaden… he _did _do it, Jesse."

"_What?_" Jesse repeated, uttering that one word in a voice too small to hear if not for its discernible crack. Hearing that Jaden, his best friend, someone he knew so well that it was impossible for him to believe he could _do _something like this came as a shock to him. He sat back in his seat, unable to comprehend what he'd heard from the two people beside him. Even though they had been there and he hadn't, it still felt like they were lying to him and that the Jaden he knew, the Jaden he _understood _was actually the one up there awaiting a verdict from what looked like a jury unanimously against him. "This is wrong," he uttered quietly, but audible enough for Jim and Axel to hear him. "This is all _wrong._"

"Afraid not, mate," replied Jim. "I'm sorry Jesse, I really am. I wish it were bull too, but it's not." He nodded in the direction of the table Jaden was sitting at. "That's our boy up there on trial for heinous things whether we like it or not."

Jesse bent down and put his head in his hands. Sitting back up, he ran his hands through his hair and put them back at his side, taking a moment to process all he'd heard. He still had trouble believing it but here it was, right in front of him. It felt so unreal, but it _was _real; Jaden Yuki was on trial for mass murder and crimes against humanity. Jesse felt faint; he wanted to leave and never look back. He imagined running the hell out of there and somehow ending up back at North Academy, where things and people were as you knew them to be and you could count on them to _always_ be that way. He wanted to go back to the way things had been a few hours ago, where he could be blissfully unaware of what was transpiring here right in front of him.

"Wait a minute," he whispered to the others, "Since this is the first I'm hearing of this, why am _I_ here as a witness?I didn't see anything."

"We're here as _character _witnesses," Axel explained. "We're here to testify for the Jaden we know. You know, the happy-go-lucky, fun-loving kind."

Jesse remembered what Freed had just told him: _Many of these people are hoping your friend gets the death penalty. But that's why I brought you here: to make sure he doesn't. _"So our job's basically to attest to the good in Jaden to keep him from gettin' the chair?"

"Mmm-hmmm," replied Axel. "Though I don't think our testimonies will get very far, considering the charges."

Meanwhile, Jaden was remembering what the Matchless General had told him about their presence; that the three of them were character witnesses. _What are they going to attest to? _Jaden asked himself. _Axel and Jim know what I did, so why are they going to testify for me? I even sent them to the stars. _Jaden felt a pang of guilt as it hit him that even though they'd been slain by his hand, they were still willing to come here and defend him to try and save his life. _I'm the worst, _he thought. _The absolute worst. I don't deserve friends like them. _Jaden hung his head and for the umpteenth time, wished that he'd never lost control and become the Supreme King the first time around. _Stop moping, _he told himself, trying to give himself a pep talk. _You don't deserve them, that much is true. But they're here to defend you no matter _how _you feel. And you need their testimonies to make sure that these people don't kill you, so just accept their help. _He looked back at his three potential saviors and noticed that Freed the Brave Wanderer had vanished yet again. _That's odd, _Jaden thought, _Where is he? _The Matchless General had told him that the younger Freed was gathering character witnesses for him. _But why? _Jaden mused. _Aren't three enough? Who else does he need to find?_

# # #

Alexis looked at her hand at all the cards she'd drawn with her Hand Re-Stock card. _Here's an idea, _she thought, glancing at a Spell Card in her hand depicting two monsters being sucked through what looked like a time portal oddly resembling the familiar swirl pattern on the popular Polymerization card. _If I activate Forward Fusion, I'll be able to play my Cyber Blader, even though Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater aren't in my hand. _She frowned at the plan. _But I always play Cyber Blader when I Duel, and I think that I'm becoming predictable by doing it. Even though Rayne's never seen me Duel before, I still think I should try something more original first, before I go bust out familiar strategies. _She looked at the other cards in her hand and on the field. _I've effectively got two Cyber Primas, thanks to Illusion Ice Sculpture's effect, although it couldn't hurt to have an additional powerful monster there. _She glanced back at her Forward Fusion card. _Oh what the hell, couldn't hurt. _"I activate Forward Fusion!"

**Forward Fusion*:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Pay any multiple of 400 Life Points: for every 400 points paid, send 1 Fusion Material Monster from your Deck to the Graveyard that's listed on a Fusion Monster Card and Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck (this Special Summon's treated as a Fusion Summon).**

"I pay a multiple of four hundred Life Points, and for each multiple, I send a Fusion Material Monster from my Deck to the Graveyard to Summon a Fusion Monster that lists the monsters I sent!" Alexis dropped her Life Points to 6300 and removed her Deck from its slot. Taking out two cards, she placed them in her Graveyard slot. "So I'll pay one thousand points to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater to Summon _Cyber Blader!_"

**Etoile Cyber (EARTH):**

**Level 4**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**If this card attacks your opponent directly, it gains 500 ATK during the Damage Step only.**

**ATK/ 1200 DEF/ 1600**

**Blade Skater (EARTH):**

**Level 4**

**[Warrior]**

**ATK/ 1400 DEF/ 1500**

**Cyber Blader (EARTH):**

**Level 7**

**[Warrior/Fusion/Effect]**

**"****Etoile Cyber" + "Blade Skater"**

**A Fusion Summon of this card can only be conducted with the above Fusion Material Monsters. While your opponent controls only 1 monster, this card cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. While your opponent controls only 2 monsters, double this card's ATK. While your opponent controls only 3 monsters, this card negates the effects of your opponent's Spell, Trap and Effect Monster Cards.**

**ATK/ 2100 DEF/ 800**

Alexis smiled at Rayne. "And now Cyber Blader's effect activates: while you control only one monster, it's not destroyed as a result of battle." Alexis pointed to Rocket Pilfer. "Now Cyber Blader attacks Rocket Pilfer!"

Rayne pressed a button on her Duel Disk. "Activate Trap Card, Bait N' Switch!"

**Bait N' Switch*:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**Activate when a monster you control is attacked. Select 1 monster in your hand: return the attack target to your hand and Special Summon the selected monster to your side of the field in the same Battle Position as the attack target was in. After the Battle Phase, return the original attack target in your hand to your side of the field.**

"This card'll switch Rocket Pilfer with a monster from my 'and!" announced Rayne. "Basically what 'appens is that Rocket Pilfer's returned to my 'and and another monster from my 'and is Special Summoned to the field in its place!" She picked a card from her hand and played it. "I'll switch Rocket Pilfer with my Easy Breaker!"

**Easy Breaker* (EARTH):**

**Level 2**

**[Rock/Effect]**

**When this card's attacked, destroy it without applying damage calculation. After that, reduce the ATK of the monster that attacked this card to 100.**

**ATK/ 100 DEF/ 200**

"An' guess what, Rhodes?" asked Rayne. "Easy Breaker's effect destroys it when it's attacked an' damage calculation is ignored!

"Huh?" said Alexis, confused. Easy Breaker broke into pieces as its own effect destroyed it. "I don't understand, Rayne. Why would your own monster destroy itself?"

"Because of its _other _effect!" said Rayne proudly. "After it's destroyed by its own effect, the monster that attacked Easy Breaker gets its Attack Power reduced to one 'undred!"

Alexis gasped as Cyber Blader's Attack Points dropped all the way to 100. _Two thousand points lost, _she murmured to herself in her thoughts. _Good thing I still have my face-down card. _"Your Life Points are still wide open, though!" she continued. "Now both Cyber Prima and Illusion Ice Sculpture attack you directly!"

"That's a whopping total of forty-six hundred damage!" exclaimed Syrus. "Man, that's _brutal!_"

Jazz and Mindy smiled at each other. "And Alexis isn't even being catty," said Mindy. "So you can bet that when she _is, _you boys _better _watch out." The Duel Academy boys sported nervous grins as they imagined Alexis being openly furious. Rayne however, had more of a reason to worry: Alexis' two monsters struck her directly, reducing her Life Points all the way down to 1100. _Bollocks, _she thought, _I forgot about 'er other two monsters. Usually when I use Bait N' Switch, my opponent only 'as one monster on the field, so I never usually worried about 'em! _She took her Trap Card from its slot and read the effect. _Besides, I thought this card ended the Battle Phase after the switched monster was destroyed. Guess not. _Rayne placed her Bait N' Switch card in her Graveyard and looked out at Alexis' three monsters after glancing at the other monsters she held. _Glad I chose Easy Breaker to take the 'it; if I'd chosen any other monster, I would've taken damage an' might not 'ave 'ad enough Life Points to withstand 'er other two monsters' attacks. _Alexis graciously ended her turn and Rayne returned her Rocket Pilfer to her side of the field before drawing for her own. She smiled at the monster she drew. _Now _this _bloke may be too weak to destroy Alexis' monsters, but what it lacks in brute strength, it makes up for with its effect, an' there's strength in numbers after all. _She looked at the other cards in her hand. _None of the other monsters I 'ave right now can stand up to them either. But, _she thought, staring at her own copy of the same card Alexis had just played, _if I activate _my _Forward Fusion, I'll get a Fusion Monster of me own, an' I know just the one for the job! _She then remembered something and looked at Cyber Blader. _That's right! Easy Breaker's effect 'as 'er Cyber Blader weakened! I can't believe I forgot about that for a second! Alright, time to make a comeback! _"First off for my turn, I Summon Battle Drone in Attack Mode!"

**Battle Drone* (WATER):**

**Level 4**

**[Reptile/Effect]**

**When this card battles an opponent's monster, you can Special Summon 1 "Battle Drone" from your hand or Deck in Attack Position.**

**ATK/ 1300 DEF/ 1400**

"An' then, like you Alexis, I'll activate Forward Fusion!" Rayne slipped her own copy of the card into her Duel Disk slot. "And I'll _also _pay eight 'undred points to fuse 'And Booster an' Life Guardian from my Deck to bring out Life Booster in Defense Mode!" Rayne's Life Points dropped to 300 as she took the two Monster Cards from her Deck and placed them in her Graveyard.

**Hand Booster* (EARTH):**

**Level 6**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**Reduce this card's Level by a number to draw the same number of cards from your Deck. If this card's Level reaches 0, destroy it.**

**ATK/ 1500 DEF/ 2200**

**Life Guardian* (EARTH)**

**Level 5**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**When this card's attacked, its DEF becomes equal to the attacking monster's ATK. During either player's turn, you can banish this card from your Graveyard to reduce all damage you take this turn to 0.**

**ATK/ 0 DEF/ ?**

**Life Booster* (EARTH):**

**Level 6**

**[Warrior/Fusion/Effect]**

**"****Hand Booster" + "Life Guardian"**

**When this card's attacked, raise its DEF by the attacking monster's ATK. During your turn, reduce this card's DEF back to 0: add that amount to your Life Points OR draw 1 card for every 400 DEF this card loses by this effect.**

**ATK/ 1500 DEF/ 0**

"Huh," mused Syrus, "What were the odds that _both_ of these two would play Forward Fusion and pay _exactly _eight hundred Life Points to fuse two Warrior-Type Earth monsters to Summon a Warrior-Type Earth Fusion Monster?"

Chazz's head went from side to side as he considered the odds. "Probably very few," he admitted. "Gotta admit though, it sure as hell makes this Duel all the more interesting for it." The others agreed, except for Kenzan. "I'm not too sure about that," he expressed. "I think Alexis has the Duel just about wrapped up. I mean, her Cyber Blader's got an advantage over Rayne's Life Booster. And because of its effect, its Attack Power doubles since Rayne's got two monsters on the field. That's just me though; I'm sure Rayne's got a plan to keep herself in the game somehow."

"Didn't you see how she did in her last two Duels?" asked Syrus. "Granted she lost against Mr. Muto, but she was good enough to tie with you Chazz, and you would've lost if not for your Chthonian Soldier's effect."

"Technically, he lost first," remarked Kenzan. "His Life Points hit zero before hers did."

"What the fuck, Hassleberry?" asked Chazz, a little irked. "I did just fine!"

"She cornered you," Jasmine pointed out. "And Syrus _is _right, you know. If you'd had any other monster out on the field, Rayne would've beaten you."

"But she _didn't_," Chazz insisted, "So stop thinking about the past and focus on the present." Everyone else rolled their eyes and decided to drop the matter as they returned their attention to the Duel. "But regardless of how well she did against Chazz," said Jasmine, "Rayne made a very risky move: even though Forward Fusion enabled her to bring out a monster to defend her, it also brought her down to only _three hundred _Life Points. And also, the monster it brought out has zero Defense Points, so unless it has a good effect, I don't see the point of bringing it out."

"Well, _obviously _it has a good effect," Mindy pointed out, "There wouldn't be any point to Summoning it in Defense Mode if it didn't."

Rayne pointed at Cyber Blader. "First, Battle Drone attacks Cyber Blader, an' that triggers its effect! When it battles an opponent's monster, I can Summon another Battle Drone from my 'and or Deck in Attack Mode!" She took out her Deck and picked up another Battle Drone from it, placing it on a vacant Monster Card Zone on her Duel Disk.

Alexis just smiled; all she was doing was activating Cyber Blader's effect; when Rayne brought out her first Battle Drone alongside her Rocket Pilfer, Cyber Blader's Attack Points doubled to 200, although when Rayne fused her monsters to form Life Booster, which gave her three monsters, it'd gone back down. But that only opened the door for _another _effect Cyber Blader had: when Alexis' opponent controlled three monsters, Cyber Blader's effect negated the effects of their Spell, Trap and Effect Monster Cards. And to top it all off, her Trap Card would deal with the first attack. "First things first," Alexis announced, "Cyber Blader's effect activates: because you have three monsters on the field, Cyber Blader negates the effects of your Spell, Trap and Effect Monster Cards, which means your second Battle Drone's Special Summoning is negated too."

"What?!" exclaimed Rayne, surprised. Grumbling, she returned the Battle Drone card she'd failed to Summon to her Deck, which she promptly reshuffled and inserted back into her Duel Disk's Deck Zone. Continuing her surprise attack, Alexis pressed a button on her Duel Disk to activate her remaining face-down card. "Next, by attacking, you've also triggered my Trap. Reveal Ice Block!"

**Ice Block:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack: negate the attack. That monster cannot declare an attack or be changed to Defense Position until the End Phase of the turn after this card's activation.**

"This Trap Card negates your attack and prevents Battle Drone from both attacking and changing to Defense Mode until the End Phase of the turn after its activation!" explained Alexis. "So Cyber Blader's safe from your Battle Drone."

"Ahhh, _bollocks!_" said Rayne, despite her smile at Alexis' skill. She good-naturedly shook her fist at her. "You thwarted me once Rhodes, but I assure you I've got more coming!" She took one look at Alexis' field. _Dammit,_ she thought,_ 'Ow can I destroy 'er Cyber Blader? As long as she 'as Illusion Ice Sculpture on the field, I 'ave to attack _it _before I can attack anything else, but Cyber Blader 'as Rocket Pilfer's effect negated, so if I try to attack Illusion Ice Sculpture, I'll only end up 'urting myself. _Rayne closed her eyes and thought hard about the situation: Illusion Ice Sculpture protected both Cyber Blader and Cyber Prima, and her Rocket Pilfer wasn't strong enough to destroy it. _I 'ate to admit it, _she thought, _But I think I may actually lose this Duel. Cyber Blader's negating all my card effects while Illusion Ice Sculpture's thwarting my attack plans. _Rayne sighed, turning her Rocket Pilfer card a quarter-turn to make it horizontal. "I switch Rocket Pilfer to Defense Mode and end my turn."

Alexis drew for her turn. It was very simple what she had to do. "First I Summon Cyber Tutu in Attack Mode."

**Cyber Tutu (EARTH):**

**Level 3**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**If the ATK of each monster your opponent controls is higher than this card's, this card can attack your opponent directly.**

**ATK/ 1000 DEF/ 800**

"Next," continued Alexis, "I'll attack Rocket Pilfer with Cyber Prima!" Rayne grimaced as the stronger monster destroyed her secret weapon. But then she realized it; now that she only controlled _two _monsters, she could use card effects again! But Alexis had known this would happen from the beginning of her turn, which was why she'd Summoned Cyber Tutu; her real plan was to get rid of Rocket Pilfer so that Rayne would only control monsters with higher Attack Points than Cyber Tutu's, which would enable the latter to attack directly and clinch the Duel. "And now, Cyber Tutu's effect activates! When each monster my opponent controls has higher Attack Points than she does, she gets to attack directly!"

_Oh shite, _thought Rayne, _Looks like I lose this one. _She braced herself for the last attack, the one that would bring her Life Points to 0 and win the Duel for Alexis.

_"__STOP!"_

Out of nowhere, a glowing ball of light emerged, shining bright enough to make everyone present cover their eyes. "Hey, what's the big idea?!" asked Chazz. "What the hell's going on?!"

To answer his question, the light faded, revealing a long-haired blonde man in what appeared to be a suit of armor but without a helmet was standing right in the middle of the Dueling field, interrupting Cyber Tutu's attack. He looked very worried. Jazz and Mindy took one look at him, then slowly turned to look at each other before fainting from the fact that a Duel Monster had spontaneously appeared out of nowhere, with Blair following their lead a split second after.

"Please stop your game at once," the man pleaded, "And come with me immediately."

He looked around at all the faces giving him the same what-the-fuck look, and elaborated: "I am Freed the Brave Wanderer. I am here to tell you that one of your number is potentially in grave danger, and he needs all your support. Everyone's presence here is required at the trial of the Supreme King."

"What?!" exclaimed Syrus. While Chazz, Kenzan, Ophelia and Alexis stared on cluelessly, he explained: "It's Jaden, you guys. By Supreme King, he means Jaden."

"Wait, _what?_" asked Chazz. "Why the hell is Jaden referred to as the Supreme King?"

Syrus' face fell. "It all started in the other dimension," he explained, "That we entered to find Jesse because of Yubel." At the mention of Yubel, everyone tensed except for Ophelia, who had absolutely no clue of who that was. Syrus continued: "After you guys were sacrificed to create the Super Polymerization card, Jaden… he lost it, you guys. He went around challenging people to Duels even though he knew he'd send them to the stars if he won. He took over the Dark World and turned it into his own personal kingdom that he ruled over with an iron fist. It was awful." Syrus looked down as he recalled the hellish period. "Maybe that explains why Jaden locked himself up in his room though. Maybe he thought we wouldn't want to see him after all that he did."

Freed glanced around impatiently. "Please, we're running out of time!" he urged, "We need to get to the trial as soon as possible, so gather round everyone! Quickly!"

"'Old on a second-" Ophelia began to protest, but she was cut off as Freed enveloped all those who were still conscious in a flash of light.

END OF CHAPTER

**Okay, I need to apologize to people for why it took so long to put this guy up here; basically I'm working on all the characters' testimonies and it's taking a while. Out of the nine testimonies I have planned, only one of them is done, and I've only gotten started on the second one today. So I apologize for not getting all of this to you sooner.**

**By the way, I decided I'd let you guys know how I come up with the cards I do and how I access all the pre-existing cards. You see, I have these two apps on my phone: one for creating my own personal Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, and another one for building Decks. The first one is called Yugioh Card Creator and the second one is called You Go Deck Builder App (the creators didn't spell the name very well I'm afraid). If you send me a Private Message about it, I will be more than happy to give you a picture of the apps so that you'll know what they look like when you go searching for them yourselves.**

**Happy reading in the meantime,**

**Naruto-Superman4**


	6. Chapter 6

**Cards with an asterisk (*) I made up, cards with two (**) are ones I changed.**

Chapter 6 - _Bilateral_

Syrus rubbed his eyes, trying to piece together his surroundings. The blinding light had faded, and he stood with Ophelia and his classmates in what looked like a hallway with a rack of heavy woolen parkas hung up in a row on it to their left and a set of thick heavy doors on their right. Syrus approached one of the doors, reaching out his hand to open it when Freed grabbed his wrist.

"Wait," he said, "You'll freeze if you go out there without something to keep you warm." He pointed to the rack holding the row of parkas. "Everybody take one, and please hurry. Your friend needs your help as soon as possible." Making haste, everyone put on a parka. Syrus felt someone tap his shoulder and turned around to see Ophelia looking apprehensive. "Syrus," she asked nervously, "Where the bloody 'ell are we?"

"We're in an alternate dimension," Syrus explained, although he wasn't sure what Ophelia was doing here. Perhaps Freed had made some sort of mistake? Anyway, he did his best to reassure her. "Don't worry. Once we get Jaden out of the mess he's in, we'll all go back home."

"'O's Jaden, mate?" she asked him, and immediately Syrus realized she had absolutely no idea who they were talking about. "He's a classmate of ours," he said, although his voice sounded uncertain.

Truth be told, none of the Duel Academy students who were there now knew where they stood with Jaden. They didn't know whether or not he still thought of them as his friends; ever since he'd come back from the alternate dimension, he'd locked himself up in his room and isolated himself from them, vehemently driving them away whenever they tried to get him to come out and tell them what happened after he defeated Yubel. It had hurt Syrus that his best friend of three years had suddenly pulled a one-eighty and closed himself off from them. Somewhat shamefully, he'd hoped he would be the exception, since he'd been the only one of their group to escape being sacrificed to create the Super Polymerization card and help see Jaden through his final confrontation with the wicked she-devil that had attempted to do away with them all so she could have him to herself.

Ophelia noticed Syrus' change in tone when he answered her question; he sounded uncertain and even a little sad and hurt. Ophelia immediately apologized for asking; she didn't want to meddle where she didn't belong and bring back any painful memories. Even though she didn't know who this Jaden person was, she didn't have any other option but to put on a parka and go with them to find out since Freed wasn't going to transport them back to their world until the trial was over.

"Brace yourselves," warned the gentle warrior as he placed a burly hand on each door handle and pushed open; immediately the gang shivered and huddled together for warmth as the freezing cold wind buffeted them. "Oh dear," he murmured, "The wind never blows like this unless someone's being given the punishment of enduring the Ice Breeze." He turned back to the group of teenagers behind him. "Come quickly," he urged. The students, having no other choice, hastily entered behind him. "Excuse me," said Syrus, raising his voice so that Freed would hear it over the billowing wind, "But why's Jaden being given the punishment of the Ice Breeze?"

Freed's brow fell into a hard line. He turned around to face them. "Many people here in our world are furious at your friend. They wish to see him punished in as many ways as possible. Here in our world, the Ice Breeze is used as a way of cowing the accused. It's very draconian, and I for one am against its use." He ushered them into their seats and hurried to the bench to confront his brother over the use of the Ice Breeze, while the Duel Academy students took the time to reach out to the three former transfer students they knew so well to bring them up to speed. "Jesse! Axel! Jim! What's going on?"

The tall Aussie made it quick. "Jaden's on trial for what he did as the Supreme King," he explained, "We're here to testify as character witnesses on his behalf so that these people don't give him the chair." The Duel Academy students felt their hearts skip a beat; these people were thinking of _executing _him? Syrus and Alexis gulped, both of them having felt the sensation more intensely than the rest of their group. Alexis looked around at all the angry faces scowling through woolly hoods, turning her head to get a three-sixty-degree view of the entire ring of people in seats before following their gaze to the center of the setup at the object of their enmity.

What she saw stabbed at her heart: unlike everyone else in attendance, Jaden was soaking wet and shivering fiercely but nobody was bothering to provide him with a parka. "What are they doing?" asked Alexis, "They'll freeze him to death if he doesn't get warm!"

She stood up. "Ja-_mmmmmph!_" she uttered only one syllable before a hand clapped over her mouth and others pulled her back down into her seat. Immediately Alexis saw Jaden's head perk up. He stood up, giving everyone a good view of the handcuffs wrapped tightly around his wrists and turned around to look at whoever shouted his name. Everyone's eyes went wide as he met their gazes.

Jaden was shocked to see them here. No, more accurately, their being here _terrified _him. He wanted to see them again but not here, not like this_._ He didn't mind Axel, Jim and Jesse being here, but the rest of them couldn't be; he'd spent an entire month in isolation just to keep them _away _from things like this. He turned to Freed the Brave Wanderer and interrupted his quarrel with his elder brother. Meanwhile, Axel castigated Alexis. "What the fuck were you thinking?" he asked, "You _want _to get these people mad at you?"

"But Axel, he'll _freeze._"

"That's just it, Alexis: these people _want _him to freeze."

"But that's terrible!" Alexis looked over at Jaden. "_He _looks terrible. _Look_ at him, Axel; he's skinny to the bone and he has dark circles under his eyes! Did these people starve him and deprive him of sleep? How can they _treat _him like this?"

Axel and Jim looked at each other. "You'll find out," they said, almost in one voice. Truthfully they were surprised to see Jaden like that too and they'd assumed the same thing Alexis had. Syrus meanwhile was straining to hear what Jaden was saying to the Brave Wanderer. There was a look of betrayal on his face. "Guys," he said, bringing something urgent to their attention, "Listen to what he's saying to the guy who brought us here." Following his example, his peers joined him in straining to hear their friend over the howl of the Ice Breeze.

"You've got to get them out of here!" Jaden was saying to the Brave Wanderer, "Please, I know you're trying to help me, but they _have_ to go, now!"

"They're already here Jaden, and the trial's already underway. What would you have me do, return them home so they don't testify for you?"

"Yes!" replied Jaden, "And right now, too! They can't _be _here, Freed! I don't _want _them here! They have to be where _nothing _from my life will _ever _intersect with theirs!"

"What?!" gasped Kenzan, "Why's he saying that?! Why doesn't he want us here?!"

"Shhh!" hissed Syrus, "Keep listening until they're done!"

"Jaden, listen to me! I brought them here because these people are thinking of giving you the _chair. _Without them here these people could _legally_ _kill _you!"

"I _know _that, but this is something I'd rather face alone! I didn't spend a month away from these people just so they could be dragged right back into things they shouldn't be involved in! The first three witnesses you brought can stay, but the rest of them have to go, Freed! They're in the way!"

"Well I'm _sorry _Jaden, but there's nothing I can do at this point! The trial's already underway so it's too late to adjust the number of witnesses, so you'll just have to deal with it!"

The Duel Academy students sat back down in shock. Jaden didn't want them here; he wanted them gone. Many of them were thinking the same thing: _I can't believe Jaden doesn't want us here. How could he say we're in his way? How _could _he? We've only ever been his friends! _Chazz in particular thought some additional things: _That asshole! After all we've done for him and all we've been through together, he's tossing us aside like we mean nothing! And what the fuck makes Jim, Axel and Jesse so special? Why do _they _get to stay? _Despite the fact that Freed couldn't take them home right away, he still thought this as if he could leave of his own free will at a moment's notice.

Everyone felt betrayed, among other things: Alexis was heartbroken that the guy she'd admired for three years wanted nothing to do with her, while Kenzan was experiencing a refresher course of the abandonment that all his friends used to do to him before he came to the Academy. _Figures, _he thought, _It doesn't matter who I make friends with, they all just leave me in the end. I thought Sarge would be different, but I was wrong. _

Syrus meanwhile was tearing up, and with good reason. In fact, he had more of a reason to cry than Alexis did: he was the first person Jaden had metbefore they even got to the Academy, and Jaden had impacted _him_ the most, more than he had anyone else. It had been Jaden who brought out Syrus' inner confidence for the first time when they Dueled as a team against the Paradox Brothers, and every time after that when Syrus had doubted himself or felt nervous, Jaden had been there to give him a boost. Jaden had been more of an older brother to Syrus than his actual brother, and the reason Syrus called him "Aniki" and "Big Bro" all the time was because he fulfilled Syrus' need for a supportive older brother figure, something Zane was supposed to do for all the years Syrus had known him but had rarely done. In fact, Syrus only recalled Zane doing so only once, when he was being offered as a sacrifice to Camula the vampire's deadly Illusion Gate two years ago.

Alexis wiped a tear from her eye; up until she met Jaden, all the boys at Duel Academy had been the same: shallow jocks who used the ranking system to pick on people below them, even though they were all human beings. But Jaden had taken that and turned it on its head. The reason Alexis loved him was because he'd _changed _the way people at Duel Academy saw one another. With Jaden around, people forgot the petty rank bullshit and came together. They laughed together and had even formed friendships with people in other dorms. Jaden had made Duel Academy a better place, and he'd been so different from all the shallow jocks who looked at Alexis and saw nothing but a piece of ass they couldn't get.

The transformative effect Jaden Yuki had on people was _amazing,_ but now he seemed not to care about that anymore. All of them had formed a bond with him over the years, and now here he was severing it by saying he didn't want them here to help him. He'd saved them so many times but for some reason now, he didn't want them to save _him. _It was so bizarre for him to do this, and Alexis couldn't understand why Jaden would do this to them. Not only was it unfair, but it was also pretty mean of him. On either side of her, Jim and Axel exchanged guilty glances; they felt somewhat awful for being the ones Jaden permitted to stay while his closest friends weren't wanted here, even though what was happening was beyond their control. Axel gave Jim a look that said _well, nothing we can do about it now. _Jim nodded, indicating he received the message and that he agreed.

Up in front, Jaden shook his head and turned around to return to his seat, still shivering from the Ice Breeze as he went; God _dammit _it was cold. He could see his breath in the cold air as his wet clothes clung to him in clumps. _If I'm out here any longer my balls are gonna fall off, _he thought crossly as he walked back over. He looked at the row of faces in the third row behind the barrier and realized that they'd heard what he'd said to Freed. _Great, _he thought, _Now I feel shitty. _This was _exactly _why he stopped hanging out with them and isolated himself in his room; because they were here now, he'd hurt them again. Maybe not in the way he always feared he would, but it was better for him to hurt their _feelings _then it was for the Supreme King to harm their bodies, if that made any sense. _Probably doesn't, _Jaden thought to himself. He noticed that most of his friends averted his eyes if they felt them on them. Syrus was crying and Alexis looked close to tears herself. Kenzan's face was inclined downwards, looking miserable, just how Jaden felt; it wasn't easy for him to spurn their presence. In fact, deep down Jaden was glad they were here. Seeing them again made him feel better after being isolated for so long. The only reason Jaden was willing to hurt them like this was because he cared so much for them, and wanted to protect them by keeping them away from him. He knew that if he allowed himself to rejoin them after so long that _eventually, _some presence would come and put them in danger. It would cause them grievous harm, or possibly even kill them, and Jaden would be damned if he let that happen.

Moving on from Alexis, Syrus and Kenzan, Jaden's eyes locked with Chazz's. The spiky-haired boy in black returned his gaze, the burning anger he felt at Jaden's betrayal evident on his face. He moved his lips and Jaden read his message: _fucking die, asshole. _Jaden closed his eyes and nodded to himself, although he was sure Chazz saw it: to protect them and keep them safe, he would be an asshole; better that than them dying because he let them get too close.

There was one more person sitting next to Chazz, in between him and Jesse, who still looked shocked. Jaden squinted at the unfamiliar figure who returned his gaze somewhat uncomfortably. _Who's she? _Jaden thought to himself, but then realized that just as his friends no longer had any business in his life, he had no more business in theirs. If they wanted to make a new friend to replace him, he'd be fine with that, although the thought of them moving on with someone else as a replacement for him hurt a little. Jaden remembered what Dr. Crowler had told him: _You can't expect to cut yourself off from the world and expect everyone to wait for you to come back when you feel like it. It doesn't work like that. The world waits for no one Jaden, and if you cut yourself off and stop living in it, it'll move on without you._

Jaden made sure to sit down in his seat which faced away from his friends before frowning. Crowler had been right: after a month of putting up with him shutting them out, his friends had moved on and found someone new to share their adventures with. Although Jaden knew he couldn't blame them for doing so, it didn't change the fact that them doing so made him feel a little sad inside; as much as he felt he had to do it to keep them safe, the thought that he was losing them still _hurt. _It felt like a chunk of his heart was missing. That, coupled with his anxiety over how the trial would turn out along with his loneliness and depression made Jaden break down into tears. He tried to keep his shoulders from bobbing as that would give him away. Through his tears, Jaden saw some of the people in the stands smile at his misery. _Well, _he thought, _Here you go people. Enjoy. _So, though keeping it contained as much as he could, Jaden wept in his seat, completely oblivious to what was happening three rows behind him.

Ophelia Rayne had hunched over in pain, her insides tightening and feeling as if they were on fire. Chazz looked over at her. "Hey, you okay?" he asked. As dickish as he'd acted towards her in their Duel, he still respected her as both an opponent and of course as a human being, and even though he'd only known her for a short while, he already gave a damn about her well-being. Ophelia nodded, though still hunched over, and Chazz beckoned to Freed the Brave Wanderer, who came over immediately once he saw Chazz indicate that all was not well. "Excuse me," he said to Jaden, still weeping as quietly as he could. Feeling sorry for the lad and getting an idea about what he was trying to do for these people in back, the Brave Wanderer reached over his shoulders and removed his cloak, draping it around the boy's shoulders, giving him a small degree of protection from the Ice Breeze, ignoring the glares and dirty looks he got from the people in the stands as he did so. Even though the boy in the red jacket had nearly killed a quarter of a million people in their dimension, Freed could tell that he was a better man than he was then, at least trying to be if he wasn't already, and for that, Freed would do what they wouldn't. He knew that while the people in the stands looked at Jaden and saw the greatest war criminal of their time finally getting the trial he deserved, Jaden and his friends saw it as someone who'd been good had merely taken a bad path, and that the intent for redemption was clear in the boy's heart. Freed could _sense _those kinds of things in people, and for that, he gave Jaden his cloak; with an entire dimension of people against him, _somebody _had to reach out and show this boy just a _sliver _of humanity. He wanted Jaden to know that not _everyone _in this dimension was a barbarian like his brother. The Brave Wanderer looked over at the Matchless General, who would be leading the prosecution and saw his brother give him a sad look; he didn't _want _to go against his brother, but justice needed to be served, and if it meant the greatest war criminal this dimension had ever known since Brron the Mad King would be brought to it, the older Freed was more than willing to endure the pain of going against his flesh and blood in a civil court trial.

The Brave Wanderer came over to the still-hunched figure of Ophelia Rayne. "Are you alright?" he asked. Ophelia nodded, but added, "Jus' need to go elsewhere for a bit." The Brave Wanderer nodded and called over a guard to escort Ophelia elsewhere. Freed turned to return to his station, but felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Chazz. "Look," said the boy, "That girl here that just left actually has nothing to do with this trial. She shouldn't be here, so if we could just leave her out of this until it's over and time to go home, that…"

"Say no more," Freed promised him, "I understand fully. Please forgive my mistake." Chazz nodded and bowed before sitting back down. Freed turned back around to return to his seat to begin the trial. On the way, Alexis tugged at him. "Sir Freed," she asked, "What did these people do to Jaden? Why is he so skinny and pale? He looks horrible!"

Freed raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked, "He was like that when we found him."

Alexis' jaw dropped as Freed returned to his seat, falling back down into her own. _Oh Jaden, _she thought, _What's happening with you?_

# # #

The guard led Ophelia back through the giant stone doors and led her to a wooden bench. Ophelia looked up at him gratefully, but said, "Beg pardon, but I need to be alone for a bit, is that alright?"

"I can't leave you here," explained the guard, "But I can turn around." He pivoted in a full one-eighty-degree turn to allow the girl a little privacy. Ophelia thanked him and sat down to concentrate on the force that was causing her discomfort. _What is it? _she asked in her mind to seemingly no one in particular. _Why am I burning up inside? What do you want? _She saw a picture of the boy they were putting on trial flash through her mind; whoever she was talking to was using nonverbal telepathic communication, using images and sounds to give her a message. This mysterious communicator also used a variety of other nonverbal means, like for example, the painful bunching up and scorching sensations of Ophelia's insides, but she greatly preferred the telepathy, for obvious reasons. She heard Syrus' words played back in her mind like an audio track while seeing the picture of the boy on trial: _"It's Jaden, you guys. By Supreme King, he means Jaden." _

_Okay, so what do you want me to do about this Jaden bloke? _she asked through the mind link. Suddenly, she felt her emotions rush and felt the feeling one got when they saw someone familiar. _You recognize 'im? _she asked, and immediately the scorching sensation she felt inside her subsided a little; whoever she was communicating with, they were saying yes.

_Alright, _she asked, _Where do you know 'im from? _She then saw pictures of a man she'd only read about in magazines, showing him using a monster called Elemental Hero Ice Edge in one picture and holding a trophy in another. Ophelia knew his name, but didn't understand why he was relevant. _Koyo 'Ibiki? _she asked, _What about 'im? What does 'e 'ave to do with this Jaden kid? _An image flashed through her mind where Koyo Hibiki gave a younger Jaden a Deck of cards. Ophelia understood immediately. _Jaden 'as 'is Deck? _She felt the burning in her stomach subside even more. She only had one more question to ask. _What do you want _me _to do? _

In response, she felt her heart rate increase as a rush of adrenaline went through her, but not just _any _rush of adrenaline; it was accompanied by a release of endorphins, the chemical in the brain responsible for the feeling of pleasure. As a Duelist, Ophelia often felt this sensation this intensely when she was doing one specific thing. _I see, _she understood, _You want me to Duel 'im! _With that, the scorching and painful bunching of her insides ceased completely. _Alright then, _Ophelia thought, _That's exactly what I'll do! _She turned to the guard. "I'm ready to go back in now."

The guard shook his head. "You've been excused from this trial," he explained. "So I'm sorry to tell you this, but you can't go back in there."

"Alright, sweet," Ophelia exhaled, glad that she didn't have to go back into that freezing cold hellhole. She got up all of a sudden. "Do you know where the loo is?" she asked. The guard nodded and pointed towards one end of the hall. She thanked him and turned on her heel before running off to sweet relief.

# # #

Judge Man looked out at the crowd of people and banged his gavel. "We will now commence," he boomed. Jaden swallowed anxiously. _Here we go,_ he thought. He admitted to himself that he was afraid of what the verdict would be. He slipped his wrists underneath his bottom and brought one leg after the other over the chain between his cuffs, effectively bringing his hands in front of him as the Ice Breeze died down, enabling people to be heard more easily. Judge Man looked over at the Matchless General. "The prosecution has the floor," he boomed, sounding official with every word.

Freed the Matchless General stood up and cleared his throat. "Your Honor, the defendant stands accused of multiple incidents of voluntary manslaughter, a.k.a. murder in the third degree, both committed himself and by members of armed forces serving under his command. Furthermore, he stands accused of war crimes, as well as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. Regarding crimes committed by soldiers under his command, the crimes include, but are not limited to, arson, child murder, infanticide and even feticide."

Eyes widened amongst Jaden's friends. Alexis placed her hands over her mouth. _Not babies,_ she thought. Chazz's mouth hung open. "_What the_ _fuck?_" he uttered in a loud whisper. Axel put his hand to his brow. "_Holy_ _shit,_" he murmured. The Duel Academy students looked at Jaden with the same thought on their minds: _Say it isn't so._

Jesse was just as aghast as the rest of them. _How could this happen? _he wondered. This was _completely _unlike the Jaden he knew. He couldn't believe that Jaden, everybody's friend, and even everybody's _hero, _was directly responsible for the deaths and sufferings of these people. But like everyone else, _including _Jim and Axel, he didn't know the half of it. Once they found out some of the details, they would get a more accurate understanding of just how serious Jaden's situation really was.

Syrus was beyond words. He sat back in his seat. He'd been there in the alternate dimension from their first encounter with soldiers from the Dark World all the way up to Jaden's final confrontation with Yubel. Like Axel, he'd been among refugees trying to escape the Supreme King, but unlike him, hadn't really gotten to see him up close. Not like he wanted to now.

The prosecution called up its first witness, a somewhat miserable-looking man in his thirties with a patch on his left eye. He stumbled along, using a walking stick to steady himself as he approached the bench where the bailiff helped him into the seat. "Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" he asked.

"I do," replied the man, a little meekly. He met Jaden's gaze only for a second: in that one second, the man gave him a look that said _Why? _and nothing else. Jaden knew his answer wouldn't suffice him.

The Matchless General approached the man on the bench, having prepared his questions. "What is or was your living, sir?" he asked, in a tone of voice completely unlike how he'd spoken to Jaden before; it was more respectful. Jaden huffed quietly to himself. _That figures, _he thought. He brought himself back to the present to hear the man's response. "I used to farm," he answered.

"You used to?" asked the Matchless General. The man nodded. "What happened to your farm?" continued the older Freed.

The man cleared his throat. "It was destroyed in the war."

"Do you know who destroyed it?"

"Well, nobody _specifically_…"

"That's alright, sir. Do you know whose forces destroyed your farm?"

"I do."

"Are they here now?"

"Yes."

"Please point to them." The man stuck his finger out, pointing at Jaden.

"I don't get it," whispered Jesse to Axel as quietly as he could so as not to disturb the trial, "What's he getting at?" The burly boy stroked his chin. "He's trying to get people to feel sympathy for the farmer," he explained, "By establishing him as someone with no involvement in the war, he's making him look like an innocent bystander and a victim of the Supreme King."

"What's that got to do with proving Jaden's guilty?"

"Freed's making the point that the farmer was attacked while posing no threat to anyone during the war," elaborated Jim, "And that Jaden therefore attacked him without provocation." Jesse nodded, understanding all that he needed to for now. He vaguely understood how court trials went; the arguer for the plaintiff's side, in this case Freed the Matchless General, would try and prove the defendant's guilt. In this case, the Matchless General had to prove that Jaden was guilty of all the crimes he'd listed just now. Meanwhile, the arguer for the defendant's side, in this case Freed the Brave Wanderer, had to prove the defendant [Jaden] was innocent, which to Jesse seemed almost impossible, given that Axel and Jim had just confirmed forhim that Jaden had committed mass murder.

The Matchless General took his time, pacing towards the jury and back again. "If it's not too much to ask," he said, "Would you please give the court your account of the events that happened on January fifth of this year?"

The farmer nodded. "I was by the town pump, filling a bucket with water to bring back to the farm to bathe some of the livestock," he recounted, "And then all of a sudden I heard someone yelling for everyone to evacuate the town. 'The Supreme King's army's headed this way!' he said, 'Get your loved ones and prized possessions and get out of here as fast as you can!' So I hurried back to the farm for my wife and sons-" Here the farmer began to tremble as he recalled the horrific incident. "-but when I got there, I saw my farm go up in flames. Some of the Supreme King's soldiers were there and they had one of my boys. My wife tried to bargain with them to let him go, but she only had one thing they wanted." The farmer closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands, "They let my boy go, but in exchange they took my wife into the house and-" the farmer struggled to say the words. "They…" he trailed off with his head to one side, the experience too horrible to articulate. After a few seconds, he waved his hand, beckoning someone over. "I can't say it," he told the muse in the hood, "So show them the event through my memories."

The hooded muse nodded and placed her hands on the farmer's temples. A giant cloud, big enough for everyone to see appeared over the farmer's head and immediately showed him running towards his wife and son as the Supreme King's soldiers lit his house on fire. One of the Supreme King's soldiers was holding one of the farmer's two sons, and his wife was pleading with them to let the boy go, holding one hand out to them while keeping the other over her protruding stomach. Jaden grew even more apprehensive when he realized what the bump was and that even though there was only one male child there, the farmer had said _sons, _using the plural tense. He gulped and forced himself to watch, hoping that nothing too unpalatable happened.

It was pretty straightforward really: the woman begged and pleaded, even to the point of offering herself up in exchange for her young son's life. The soldier appeared to agree to this bargain; he released the boy and dismounted from his horse. Jaden's stomach formed a knot as he saw the soldier take the farmer's wife inside the house. He dreaded what happened next, but he forced himself to watch because he knew that to shirk away from this would be the same as denying his role in the whole affair, which he knew he couldn't do. So, taking another gulp, he continued forcing himself to watch.

He regretted it: the soldier drew his sword and brought it across in a terrible side sweep, slashing the woman's bump open, cutting off all support for the tiny life she held inside her. The woman cried out as her husband joined her, and together they wept for the child they'd lost.

If the Duel Academy students had been horrified before, they were absolutely _petrified _at what just came out. But the most shocked person of all was Jaden himself; his eyes went wide and he gave a sharp intake of breath. "_No,_" he murmured, setting his head down on the table. "Oh God,_ no._" He'd expected to hear about all the blood and gore he'd left behind in his wake, but _this _was too much. He'd never given an order for such a thing to be done. He held his hands out in front of him asking himself: _What the fuck have I done?_

The cloud dispersed, the weeping man being led away by the hooded muse and briefly consoled by the Matchless General before being led back to his seat. Jaden saw his wife wrap her arms around him, tears streaming down her face as well. The farmer reciprocated his wife's actions and while Jaden felt he should look away, he made himself look for a few seconds more to try and fathom the true horror of what had occurred during his reign. This had happened because he'd allowed it to. These two lives would never be the same again, and it was all his fault.

The next few testimonies were similar to the first one, with the Supreme King's soldiers coming to their land and killing their loved ones. This happened for a while until the Matchless General began calling up former soldiers of the Supreme King's army to testify against their former master. Their memories were all shown, and they were undesirable sights, but there was one particular memory, all at once horrifying, frightening and disturbing for the Duel Academy students, which when played for them to see gave those who'd missed seeing the Supreme King in action a horrible fright. But that wasn't the only thing about it worth noticing. In this memory, the Duel Academy students would find a revelation.

The memory they saw was that of rows and rows of demonic-looking soldiers marching in rows underneath a sky turned blood-red as a sergeant looked on. Even though they were only supposed to be Duel Monsters, the fact that most of them were Fiends with hideous battle scars didn't help.

Neither did the terrifying sight of skull-faced creatures, all in black, wearing long, flowing robes with _very _tall pointed hoods. Axel in particular got a greater fright than anyone seeing those figures. He'd seen pictures of humans wearing similar costumes, only the humans had worn white.

The skull-faced people turned and knelt before a dark figure watching over the hellish parade, his hands folded behind his back. The dark figure turned around, revealing the frightening face of Haou himself, cast in shadows and a hard-set impassive glare, one of the two things that explained his practically uncanny ability to inspire fear in others, the other being his followers and their degree of twisted loyalty and support. The face was definitely the more frightening of the two, but not in a way that _competed _with the horror all around, but that was _bolstered _by it: the fact that Haou remained impassive despite all the grim, grisly hell occurring around him made his expression all the more chilling in that it made one wonder what else, no, what _more _he was capable of, and it was _that _which made his visage so intimidating.

Coincidentally enough, the soldier whose memory this was had been with the other soldier who'd murdered the unborn child of the farmer and his wife. Both the former and the latter in the memory knelt before Haou, the people in the courtroom watching the memory able to see the hairs on the backs of their necks standing straight up. The soldiers in the memory tensed as their leader turned to them to ask them about their task.

_"__You've ensured total compliance?"_ he asked, his tone calm and voice flat, completely free of any intonation. It was also surprisingly different from his other side's: while Jaden spoke in an uplifting, nasalized tenor, Haou's voice was almost down a whole octave, convincing people to submit to him with its smooth, authoritative baritone. But the communicative differences between Jaden and Haou didn't end there. Not only did Haou have a deeper voice, but he also spoke laconically and concisely, preferring to say as little as possible when he conversed; it almost seemed as if he preferred not talking at all compared to Jaden, who would talk even if only for the sake of it and at length too, potentially screwing up, making both grammatical and syntactical errors as he did so. He didn't put the same meticulous care into carefully constructing his sentences like Haou did. Jaden put feelings behind what he said; Haou was detached, like how he was here, interrogating his soldiers.

The soldier who killed the farmer's unborn child swallowed nervously, but inaudibly enough to escape Haou's earshot, before answering his question: _"Yes, Lord Haou."_

The Supreme King turned around and walked toward his subordinate, looking him closely in the eye. The man squirmed a little, uncomfortable with this closeness. _"You speak truth?"_ he asked.

_"__Yes, Lord Haou,"_ replied the soldier. The Man of Darkness turned around and walked back ten paces, folding his hands behind his back and nodding his head as he did so. Suddenly, out of nowhere he said, _"I hear otherwise."_ The soldier gulped as his boss said, _"Explain." _

The soldier, already on his knees, fell forward onto his hands. _"Lord Haou, I would never lie to you. When I first joined your army, I pledged undying truth and honesty to you as part of my loyalty, in which I will never falter. As part of this, I confess to you that I have not entirely slayed all those who stood there. There were some who escaped me. Please forgive my lapse. I will accept punishment for my failure."_

_"__That failure's negligible,"_ retorted Haou, _"I can forgive it."_ The soldier looked up at him, surprised but grateful. _"Thank you, Lord Ha-"_

_"__However," _continued Haou, interrupting him, _"You killed a child and spared the parents. I'm displeased."_ The soldier began to sweat: Haou's displeasure meant death to those who stirred it. Haou turned around, his _proper _facial expression showing. _"No,"_ he corrected, venom seeping into his tone, _"Not displeased; _angry_."_ He stressed that last part, and the soldier winced. The people in the courtroom took note that Haou made his soldier wince by merely applying stress to the word without raising his voice at all; _these people were that afraid of him. _

_"__Lord Haou,"_ begged the soldier, _"Please forgi-ach-acchh!_" he stopped short as he felt his windpipe constrict against his will. His eyes bulged with fear as he saw Haou's outstretched hand closing around nothing but air from three feet away. _"You've angered me _greatly,_ soldier,"_ said Haou. While his tone was his usual one, it steadily grew angrier and louder. _"You haven't kept the family together. When you kill one, you kill the rest. You _keep the family together._"_ The venom rose in his voice as he made his displeasure clearer and clearer. His grip tightened around the invisible throat made of air as his soldier's choking became more and more pronounced. _Oh God, Jaden stop, _pleaded Alexis silently, _You're killing him! _

But Jaden wasn't the dominant side in the memory. As Haou's hand closed, the life faded from his terrified underling. At the last second though, Haou's hand paused, and his soldier looked at him, questioning why his execution was being put on hold. The King of Darkness walked over to his underling who had displeased him so, having decided how it would be done. _"Kneel,"_ he ordered. While he'd been choking the man, he'd fallen out of his kneeling position. The soldier did as he was told.

_"__Deploy,"_ Haou commanded. The soldiers around him looked at each other nervously. They knew where this was going. The guilty soldier looked at his king with fear in his eyes; he knew where this was going too. _"Lord Haou,"_ he begged, _"Please, don't make me do it, I beg of you! I'll never displease you again!_ _Please!_"

_"__Deploy," _Haou repeated, using the stress to convey both his impatience and his apathy for the man's plight, _"You're wasting everyone's time."_ The goblin of a man before him began to cry as he strapped on his Duel Disk and engaged it. _Well, _thought Chazz as he watched, _Somebody's fucked. _Back in the memory, Haou walked closer to his soldier and leaned down in his face to issue this soldier's final command. _"Forfeit,"_ he ordered. His soldier looked up at him, his eyes pleading for mercy. _"Please, it'll never happen aga-"_

_"__Forfeit," _said Haou, more forcefully now. He leaned in closer, menacing the goblin with just his face and his voice._ "If I have to repeat myself one more time…"_ he trailed off intentionally, and nodded his eyes at the soldier's Duel Disk, giving the soldier the unspoken message: _Either you execute yourself or I will. You'll want to do it yourself. _

Crying, the soldier looked back at the top of his Deck. What Haou was ordering him to do was tantamount to suicide. But from the way Haou was, it would be a better way to go than having his king commit the execution. Haou was giving him a chance to go out in a way that would preserve his honor, and from Haou's tone, he'd be a fool if he didn't take it. He looked at his former king one last time. _"I'm sorry I failed you,"_ he said. He placed his hand over his Deck, becoming immersed in white light which disintegrated as the former soldier left the premises. Haou turned to the rest of his soldiers. _"Always," _he boomed, _"Keep the family together."_ His soldiers responded by saluting him with two fingers pointing out. _"Hail Haou!" _they chorused.

The Duel Academy students gasped; the salute the soldiers had made was the gesture Jaden always made to his opponents after Dueling them, and to see it used this way was… wrong, just _wrong. _They were taking something meant to be lighthearted and well-meaning and corrupting it, turning it into something highly unsettling. Alexis whispered to Chazz, "Did you hear how they hailed him?" she asked. Chazz nodded nervously. "It sounded a lot like _heil _Haou," he said, unnerved. "That's _seriously _fucked up."

As fucked up as it was, Alexis and Chazz hushed immediately as they and the rest of their classmates and everyone else in the courtroom saw something… surprising, and in a _good _way, strangely.

The Supreme King had turned away from his soldiers for a brief bit, but from the point of view of one soldier who'd still been able to see Haou's face slightly, the Supreme King's face appeared strained with pain, and his eyes, those intimidating yellow catlike eyes that he was renowned for, looked strangely sad. _"Always… keep the family together,"_ he murmured slowly and softly to himself.

The Duel Academy students were both surprised and perplexed. _What's he talking about? _they all thought to themselves, _What does he mean by keep the family together?_

Jaden knew what it meant; even though he wasn't looking at this particular memory-testimony, he remembered what happened clearly enough himself. _I was beside myself. I was so lost after what happened to the guys; after Brron sacrificed them to create the Super Polymerization card, I… I just lost it. I made that man kill himself because he inflicted the same pain I felt onto someone else. Nobody should ever have to feel that pain, _he reflected to himself. _As the Supreme King, I wanted that guy to kill the parents as well as the kid because then they'd all be reunited in the stars. If they felt the same pain as me then, they wouldn't soon. I felt I was doing them a kindness by killing them so that no one would ever feel the same pain as me again. If one person was killed, they'd all have to be killed so that I could save a lot of families from being split apart. _He looked back at his friends' shocked faces. _I wanted to save everyone else's… because I couldn't save mine._

But he was looking back from retrospect, and he admitted that the logic he'd followed as Haou had been impossibly flawed and _beyond _twisted; how was killing people saving them? He thought he was saving them when in reality he'd gone mad, trying to get all the hurt out so that the pain would go away. All this had just been one sad kid's insane little way of mourning for his friends. That's what all this _really _was, and Jaden didn't deny it. _As much as I hate to admit it, _he thought, _I got serious issues. It was a miracle Axel was able to bring me back from the abyss. _

As Jaden personally reflected on his mental state during his temporary reign as a homicidal, mentally unstable despot, the memory-testimony concluded and the soldier was taken away by the bailiff. Freed the Brave Wanderer stood up and turned back to look at his first character witness. "Ready?" he asked. The first witness nodded. "Alright," he said, "The defense calls James Cook to the stand."

Jim stood up to approach the bench. When he sat down, a Duel Monster came over and asked him, "Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" Jim affirmed, and the Duel Monster returned to the sidelines. The Brave Wanderer approached the bench. "Mr. Cook," he asked, "What is your relationship to the defendant?"

"We're friends."

"I see. And how did you become friends with the defendant?"

"I transferred to his school for a semester and just sort of fell in with his friends."

The Brave Wanderer nodded and paced back and forth before returning to face Jim again. "Can you tell us about the defendant from your time spent with him?"

"Uhhhh, _sure,_" replied Jim, trying to recall, "The first time I met Jaden and his mates was when I was investigating some electromagnetic waves that were riling up my pet crocodile, Shirley. We investigated them together, and during that time, I became friends with them," Jim looked up, trying to remember. "I thought he was a little slow at first, but then he grew on me. He was always determined to make sure his friends were safe; when we were all trapped in the alternate dimension, one of our friends-she's not here now-had fallen ill after being attacked by some devil-arm thing, and when Jaden found out that there was some medicine on a submarine out in the middle of the desert, retrieving it became the only thing on his mind, and despite the traps and the monsters we encountered, he kept pushing through."

"So the defendant put himself in danger and battled through it, _just _to get the medicine to the sick girl?"

"Yessir."

The Brave Wanderer noticed his brother narrowing his eyes and writing something down on a notepad. The younger Freed had a good idea what it was: a possible way to turn Jim's testimony around in his favor. _I should ask those questions before he does, _he thought. Turning back to Jim, he asked, "How'd you know the defendant did this? Were you with him?"

"Aye, I was."

"You said you all ran into traps and encountered monsters on board the submarine."

"Aye."

"You were exposed to danger then, correct?"

"Aye."

"Who led this expedition?"

"He did."

"The defendant led the expedition and your group encountered danger aboard the submarine in the form of traps and monsters. Both of these sentences are true, correct?"

"Yes. Err, well…" Jim stalled for a bit. "The monsters _were _the traps," he explained.

"Very well," said the Brave Wanderer, "but the bottom line is, you were endangered while under his leadership, correct?" Jim shifted uncomfortably. "Yes," he admitted.

"So that must mean the defendant led you into danger then." To Freed's relief and the relief of Jaden's friends, Jim responded perfectly. "Yes, but that in no way directly affects his guilt here. when we went on that mission, we _volunteered _for it knowing full well that we were in a dangerous environment and that we'd likely encounter danger. It was the same situation before that when the lot of us ventured into an abandoned research facility to bring down Professor Viper, who was harvesting energy from our school's student body. We _knew _the risks, but we went in anyway."

"Why was this Viper collecting energy from the student body?"

"To revive Yubel so she could grant his wish to revive his dead son."

"I see," said Freed. He turned to Judge Man. "No further questions Your Honor."

He walked back and sat down next to Jaden as the Matchless General stood up and walked over to the bench. "Mr. Cook," he began, "Going back to you and the rest of the defendant's friends knowing the risks, was this the case when you lot came to this dimension?"

"Yes. As in, we knew there'd _be _risks."

"I see. Why'd you come to this dimension in the first place?"

"We were looking for our friend Jesse Anderson, who was left behind when he and Jaden defeated Yubel to return us all home from the previous dimension we were stuck in."

"And what happened then?"

"What do you mean?"

"The defendant was reported to have become the Supreme King after defeating Brron, the Mad King of Dark World. Even though you described him as always determined to make sure his friends were safe, something like that couldn't have been the only trigger. There _had _to be something else. I need you to think _real hard _about the defendant Mr. Cook; is there _anything _you can tell me about his mental state during your expedition to recover Mr. Anderson?"

Jim shifted uncomfortably again, and the rest of Jaden's friends did too. They didn't like where this was going. "Please Mr. Cook," said the Matchless General, "I need you to tell me so that we can determine what turned Jaden Yuki into the Supreme King."

"Well you should probably ask _him _for that," Jim admitted sheepishly, "Because other than his obsessive need to find Jesse, I got no idea."

"I'll get to Haou eventually. You're _sure_ you don't know what might've caused his transformation?"

"Well, I only really have an _inkling,_" Jim admitted, "I imagine losing his friends pushed him over the edge with grief or something."

The Matchless General paused for a bit. "Please give us your account of what happened after the defendant defeated Brron."

Jim looked at Jaden, who looked away, feeling unable to meet his gaze. "Well," he began, "After Chazz, Kenzan and the Rhodes siblings were sacrificed, Jaden lost it. He beat Brron rather brutally. After he did though, Axel and I showed up with Syrus, who gave him a real telling off, and then he ran away. Axel and I ran after him, but we lost him. So, not being able to find him after a while, we soon realized we didn't know where we were. Given the area was dangerous for Duelists, Axel suggested we cover ourselves so no one would think we were. We beat a couple of the Supreme King's henchmen who were trying to accost an old man and a small boy and they directed us to a village that was the last existing resistance against Haou's army. After we rested up there, they directed us towards Haou's castle, and after beating Kozaky, Axel and I saw the King up close. We were shocked to find out who he was. After seeing what he'd become, I decided to snap Jaden out of whatever darkness was controlling him, so I challenged the Supreme King to a Duel. I lost though," he admitted ruefully, "But before I went to the stars, I gave my eye here-" Jim tapped his bandaged eye. "-to Axel, so he could bring Jaden back. That's it, that's all I know," he finished.

The Matchless General tapped his chin. "What eye?" he asked.

"My true eye," Jim explained, "It's called the Eye of Orichalcum. With it, I can see into people's souls and see what's going on inside them. I first got it after saving my pet croc Shirley from a trap. I fell into a river-that's how I lost my eye-and when I woke up, there was this old man who told me how the eye worked." Jim recited what the old man had told him about the Eye: "_A comet turns, a friend walks lost, a bandage falls,_ _the eye sees the truth. A friend shows us the way._"

Freed's interest was piqued. "You used the Eye to peer into Haou?" he asked.

"I did," Jim admitted.

"What did you see?" Freed asked. When he asked this, the people sitting around in the stands leaned forward in their seats; if there was a possible explanation for why the Supreme King had done what he did to them that this guy had been able to find out, they wanted to know.

Jim looked downwards. "I saw a guy in pain," he answered, "Full of guilt, loneliness and self-loathing, with no strength to try and fight his dark side. He was lost, trying to find a way to set things right." He looked over at Jaden, who continued to avert his gaze and frowned. "I can still see those feelings in him now. The guilt, loneliness and self-loathing are all still there, and they're also stronger, _much _stronger. As in, they're more intense." Jaden shifted in his seat; he wished Jim had kept that to himself; nowadays, how he felt about himself was nobody's business but his own.

Freed leaned in closer to Jim. "Would you mind sharing you memories of what you saw in Haou?" Jim nodded. "Not at all. In fact, I think it'd be better if I showed everyone what I saw rather than just describing it."

Jaden shifted in his seat for the second time, cringing a bit. The thought of people seeing his anguish made him uncomfortable, _especially _if that meant that all his friends would see it too. But it wasn't like he had a choice in it; Jim was the one testifying, not him, and he was allowed to share his memories if he wanted to. Besides, he was testifying to make sure these people didn't give him the death penalty, so if it meant saving his life, Jaden guessed he could deal with it.

The hooded muse came over to Jim, who took his hat off to allow her to put her hand on his head to broadcast his memories of the event. Another memory cloud appeared, showing Jim speaking defiantly to the Supreme King (the Matchless General grinned approvingly at this) and removing the bandages over his right eye, enveloping Axel, Haou and himself in the red light of the Eye of Orichalcum, entering into Haou's soul. The memory-testimony went on to show Jaden on his knees in a room surrounded by mirrors and darkness, looking lonely, distressed and pained.

_"__I'm sorry," _mourned Memory-Jaden, _"What have I done? I can't believe this is my fault. I've ruined everything and… I can't fix it. I'm so sorry, but I can't fix it!"_

Memory-Jim approached him. _"Hey Jaden," _he said, _"I'll find a way to fix it, or lose everything trying."_

But the suffering boy in the red coat with the yellow eyes didn't hear him. _"I'm so sorry," _he repeated, _"It's all my fault. I just don't know where I went wrong. I don't get it!" _Memory-Jim stepped forward to try and comfort him some more, but he stopped when he saw Professor Thelonius Viper reflected one of the many mirrors.

_"__That's what happens when you Duel only for yourself," _the reflection hissed. _"You see Jaden, you've always been a selfish Duelist." _The reflection changed to show Viper and Jaden's Duel in the past.

_"__Don't you see that every Duel you've _ever _been a part of is played to satisfy your self-centered desire to be Number One, satisfying your _own _interests ahead of the needs of others. _That _must be an easy way to live, looking out for yourself and never caring for anyone else!"_

_"__I didn't think I'd just look out for myself," _Memory-Jaden whimpered, trying to defend himself, _"I thought I was a good friend!"_

_"__Don't listen to him!" _urged Memory-Jim, but his comforts fell on deaf ears. _"Maybe I _am _selfish," _whined Memory-Jaden, _"I just focused on what _I _wanted. Now my friends… they're done! I'M SORRY!" _he wailed, letting out all his grief and regrets. The mirrors changed to show Chazz, Kenzan and the Rhodes siblings being sacrificed, then showed Jaden and Brron, post-Duel.

_"__You won't like what you hear!" _said the Mad King.

_"__Tell me!"_

He held his hand up towards the sky. _"He's up there!" _he cackled, _"In the stars with your four friends! You'll never see him again!" _With that, Brron dispersed into stardust. Memory-Jaden clasped his hands in front of him in his soul. _"They're all gone," _he mourned as reflections of Kenzan, Chazz and the Rhodes siblings appeared in the mirrors. _"And it's all my fault! I didn't listen to them and now they're gone! I _am _selfish! I'm the worst! I only did what _I _wanted to do! And now I'm alone… I'm all alone." _His forehead almost touched the floor. Suddenly, Memory-Jim and Axel heard a voice very much like Jaden's speak to him.

_"__Of _course _you're alone," _it said, sounding somewhat like a scold, though it quickly became something else. _"_Everyone's _alone. There's no such thing as friends. There's just you, and you forever. So what if all your friends are gone? You can't change the past; you can only look to the future!" _The Supreme King's image appeared in the mirrors with his visor down._ "Tomorrow's yours for the taking! But you'll have to truly want it, and in order to take it, you _must _have power! And if you want this power, you have to be _merciless!_" _Indicating the blank card Memory-Jaden now held in his hand, he added, _"Use this card and you can conquer _anything _that gets in your way!" _The blank card changed to show its artwork, which Syrus recognized immediately: _Super Polymerization._

Memory-Jaden stared at the card, transfixed. _"But," _he protested, _"I don't _want _to conquer anyone. I just want my friends back."_

_"__You can't _have _your friends back!" _snapped Haou. _"You'll never _get _them back because there's no way back from the stars!" _Memory-Jaden grimaced at this. _"And there's another thing," _Haou continued, inserting a scold into his tone, _"Because of how you mistreated them, do you _really _think you still _deserve _those people?" _Memory-Jaden began to shed tears. _"You're right," _he admitted, eyes closed, _"I _don't _deserve them, not after throwing them under the bus like that. It's just that I'd give _anything _to have them back! Anything! Without them, nothing's worth it anymore." _Memory-Jaden's voice fell. _"I feel so lonely," _he murmured sadly, _"God, I am _such _a fuckup! How could I do this to them? They didn't deserve to be treated the way they were!"_

_"__Fuckup's putting it lightly, don't you think?" _came Haou's voice. This time, it came from in front of Memory-Jaden, who looked up to see Haou walking towards him from down a darkened corridor. The Supreme King came closer and closer until he stood right in front of Jaden. _"Your friends were here to do the same thing you were. They also wanted to find Jesse too, you know. Although not as badly as you I guess." _Memory-Jaden looked downwards as he felt a pang of guilt. Strangely, as he felt this pang, Haou breathed in, feeling better overall: physically, mentally, all of it. Apparently, the more Jaden suffered emotionally, the better Haou felt. Naturally, Memory-Jaden didn't notice this.

Memory-Jim and Axel approached the two. _"Get away from him!" _Jim ordered, _"Leave him alone! We won't let you do anything to him!" _Haou looked up at the two of them, then simply looked back down at Jaden. Memory-Axel looked over to his comrade. _"He's ignoring us, Jim," _he said, _"And I don't think Jaden can hear us either."_

_"__Well we can't give up!" _Memory-Jim retorted, _"Axel, if we let this guy have his way, he'll destroy everyone and everything in his path. We've got to awaken Jaden and convince him to fight this guy off!" _But before his compatriot could respond, Memory-Jaden began speaking again. _"Probably," _he admitted, referring to Haou's earlier question. _"What kind of _asshole _do I have to be to have treated them like that?" _He sat back cross-legged and spoke in a small voice. _"I'm a piece of shit," _he uttered, beginning to weep.

_"__Enough with the tears," _Haou ordered. Memory-Jaden looked up at him, surprised. _"Crying now won't do any good for anyone. Is _this _how you intend to make things right, by crying_ _and calling yourself names? No matter how accurate they may be, now's not the time for them. And as for realizing your mistakes, that should've happened _before _you Dueled Brron. But like I said, you can't worry about the past. You have to look to the future."_

Memory-Jaden looked up at him. _"How do I do that?" _he asked. Haou grinned back at him. _"Thought you'd never ask," _he replied. Memory-Jim turned to Axel.

_"__We've got to do something!" _he urged, _"Jaden doesn't know it, but Haou's tricking him! He's condoning Jaden's negative self-talk as a means of keeping him too psychologically weak to fight back and stand up to him!" _

_"__Yeah, but what are we gonna do?" _asked Memory-Axel. Memory-Jim looked back, trying to find out.

As Memory-Jim's mind raced, Haou continued. _"Remember what I told you," _he said, _"Keep tapping into your emotions: the more you feel, the stronger I become, and I'll need all the power you can give me. Whatever you do, do _not stop feeling. _Remember, your feelings provide me with the power I need to reunite everybody in the stars."_

_"__What?" _asked Memory-Jim, _"Reunite everybody in the stars? What's he on about?" _He looked to Memory-Axel, who was turning pale. _"And why would Jaden even _agree _to something like that?" _He noticed Axel's expression. _"Axel, pull yourself together, mate! We've got to do something to save Jaden from the Supreme King's grip! Now's not the time to be scared, so why _are _you?"_

_"__Jim,"_ said Axel apprehensively, _"He's _looking _at us."_

_"__What?" _Memory-Jim turned around to see. Axel was right; Haou was looking _directly _at the two of them and grinning like the evil son of a bitch he was. _"Why's he looking at us like that?" _he asked.

_"__I don't know," _said Axel, _"But it's freaking me out!"_

Haou, enjoying their uneasiness, knelt down to whisper in Jaden's ear. _"Jaden, listen to me," _he said, _"Right now, Jim and Axel are on the bridge and the former and I are Dueling."_

_"__What?!" _Memory-Jaden looked up at Haou, whose expression changed quickly enough for his other half to not notice who he was looking at. _"Why're you Dueling Jim?!"_

_"__He challenged me," _Haou explained, _"And as the Supreme King, I have to accept all challenges. Remember what I told you: keep tapping into your negative emotions so that I can be strong enough to reunite everyone in the stars!"_

_"__Haou, I… I don't know about this," _Memory-Jaden confessed, _"I'm having second thoughts. I know I said I'd help you reunite everyone in the stars, but…" _He looked down towards the floor._ "It's just that I've already lost most of my friends and I don't want to lose two more. Jim and Axel have always been there for me. I can't treat them like I treated the others."_

_"__That's it, Jaden!" _called Memory-Jim, _"We're your friends! Don't let Haou trick you! He's lying to you so you'll give him power, which he'll use to suppress you while he kills innocent people!"_

As Jaden was currently looking down towards the floor, Haou took a split second to give Jim a fuck-you look before putting a smile back on his face and getting his other half's attention. _"Look," _he said, _"I know this is hard for you and that you don't want to hurt any more of your friends. I get that, I really do. But think about where Chazz, Kenzan, Alexis and Atticus are right now, then think about where Jim and Axel are: because of you, the family's split apart, and if Jim beats me, it'll stay that way. I know this is hard for you to grasp, but we have to send Jim to the stars so that he can join the rest of your friends and bring the family one step closer to being fully reunited. _Trust _me."_

_"__No! Don't trust him!" _called Jim. _"Jaden, he's manipulating you!"_

_"__If I don't defeat Jim and send him to the stars, the family stays divided," _said Haou, _"Is that what you want? You can't make up for your mistakes if the family stays divided."_

_"__Jaden, that's bullshit!" _said Axel, _"You know who you are! You'd never do this, Jay! You're a _good guy!_"_

Memory-Jaden looked up at his dark side. _"Well…" _he murmured, _"When you put it _that _way…"_

_"__Jaden mate, stop! Think about what you're agreeing to!"_

_"…__okay. Do it."_

_"__Jaden, no!"_

Haou nodded, _"You're making the right call," _he said, _"Because of you, the family will soon be one step closer to being fully reunited."_

Memory-Axel turned to Jim. _"What'll we do?" _he asked. Jim just stared ahead. _"I'm thinking," _he replied, but right now his mind was drawing a blank.

Haou patted Memory-Jaden on the shoulder and walked over to the other two. _"See how pointless your attempts are?" _he asked, _"You can't stop me! Soon you two will join the rest!" _Memory-Jim and Axel braced themselves as a strong gust of wind blew throughout Jaden's soul. _"Now GET OUT!" _Haou roared, overwhelming Memory-Jim and Axel with the sheer volume of his voice. Outside of Haou's soul on the bridge, the Eye of Orichalcum's red glow faded as Memory-Jim and Axel regained their focus. As this was the end of the memory, the muse took her hand off the present Jim's head and the memory cloud disappeared.

The Matchless General took a moment to get his bearings. "So let me get this straight," he said, "You're saying the defendant is not guilty because the entity known as Haou the Supreme King is not his main identity, but in fact an alternate personality?"

"Uhhh…" Jim faltered here, "No, I don't think they're alternate personalities. Jaden's never displayed any signs of having multiple personalities."

"Then what the hell was that there?" asked the Matchless General, "What is the relationship between Jaden Yuki and Haou, the Supreme King?"

Jim sighed and did his best to remember. "During our Duel," he said, "The Supreme King said he and Jaden were one and the same spirit."

"So in effect, they're the same person?"

"I _think _that's what it means."

"You _think_ or you _know?_"

"I _think_," replied Jim, "I'm only repeating his words back to you."

The Matchless General began pacing for a bit. After ten seconds, he turned back to Jim and asked, "At what point did you arrive during the defendant's Duel with Brron? Do you have a full account of the events that transpired?"

"You mean did I see the Duel in full?" Jim asked. "If so, then no, I'm afraid I didn't."

"What about the point where you arrived? By the time you got there, what was happening?"

Jim racked his brains. "By the time Axel and I got there with Syrus," he said, "Jaden had his Elemental Hero Avian out in Attack Mode, plus two Token monsters. All three of Jaden's monsters had one thousand Attack Points. Brron meanwhile had Zure, Knight of Dark World in Attack Mode along with his Wicked Canon card, and had activated two Trap Cards. I forget what they were, but one of them forced Jaden's monsters to attack his Zure, which only had nine hundred Attack Points for some reason, maybe because of one of the Trap Cards. So then after Jaden's three monsters attacked Zure, which for some reason wasn't destroyed in battle, Brron took three hundred damage, and then his Wicked Canon card sacrificed our friends Kenzan Hassleberry and the Rhodeses."

"How was the defendant's mental state after his friends were sacrificed?"

"He was sad about it," Jim answered, "And when Brron kept mocking him about how he'd let them get sent to the stars, Jaden got angrier, saying that Brron would see his friends soon enough because he was going to send him to the stars."

"What did he do after that?"

"He sacrificed the two Tokens and Summoned Elemental Hero Neos," said Jim, "Then activated Common Soul to Special Summon Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird. Then he Contact Fused them to bring out Elemental Hero Air Neos, with whom he attacked Brron's Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark Word, which Brron had Summoned during his own turn of course, and brought Brron down to twenty-three hundred Life Points." He paused to take a breath. "After that, he played Contact Out, which reversed the Contact Fusion and brought back Neos and Air Hummingbird, the former of which he destroyed Zure with, and the latter of which attacked Brron directly."

The Matchless General cupped his chin between his index finger and thumb. "Our reports stated that at some point in the Duel Mr. Cook, the defendant's eyes changed to golden yellow and he began a brutal assault on Brron," he stated, "I want you to tell me the point in the Duel when this happened."

"Oh," Jim uttered, "Uhhh, alright… It was about right after Brron destroyed his monsters with Reign-Beaux's effect and attacked him directly. He mocked Jaden a little more, and then Jaden got up and said that he used to Duel for fun, but now he was Dueling to avenge what Brron did to his friends. Then he said it was payback time," Jim paused for a moment, "For a moment there when he said it, his voice was a little different."

"Different how?"

Jim groaned in his thoughts. The Matchless General may not be grilling him for answers, but he sure was asking a lot of precise questions, and it seemed he was looking for any shred of evidence to prove Jaden's guilt. "Different… as in…" Jim paused here, searching for the right word to use. He knew that if he said something like "sinister" or "threatening" that it would undo all he'd been trying to do to turn the case in Jaden's favor. But Freed knew this, and a couple of seconds after Jim took the pause to search for a suitable word, he pounced. "Would you say it had sinister or threatening overtones?" he asked. Jim stopped dead, knowing that if he said no to this, he'd be lying, because Jaden's voice _had _sounded threatening when Jaden declared payback time. He just didn't want to say it because he knew Freed would try to spin it to paint Jaden unfavorably to the people in the courtroom. But since Freed had nailed the description perfectly and saying 'no' would be inaccurate and that Jim was under oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, he let out a sigh. "Yes," he said.

The courtroom was abuzz for the first time in a while, forcing Judge Man to bang his gavel and call for order in the court. As everyone quieted, Jim looked down at his feet, feeling a little guilty for what he'd said. But it had been either that or risk committing perjury, and as much as he was Jaden's friend, Jim knew he couldn't do that. _Sorry Jaden, _he thought, _I did what I could. _

But unfortunately for Jim and Jaden, the Matchless General wasn't done. "Our reports also stated that Haou began glowing with an eerie orange light. Did you see this happen?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Right after he played O – Oversoul to bring Neos back from the Graveyard and equipped him with Assault Armor," Jim confessed. The Matchless General played his trump card. "Mr. Cook, I'd like to have the muse show us your memory again," he told him, "Will that be fine?"

Nervousness panged in Jim's gut: Freed didn't have to ask for his permission. That was just a courtesy he extended. In truth, he could have the muse show Jim's memories whether he liked it or not since it was in the name of getting the most accurate accounts of events. Feeling defeated, Jim nodded his agreement without a word. The muse came over and he removed his hat again. Another memory cloud appeared, displaying Jaden's Duel with Brron.

As Jim had reported, Reign-Beaux and Neos were out on the field, the latter equipped with Assault Armor. Brron was winning, 1500 to 800.

**Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World (DARK):**

**Level 7**

**[Fiend/Effect]**

**If this card's discarded from the hand to the Graveyard by an opponent's card effect, Special Summon it. If this card's Special Summoned this way, destroy either all monsters OR all Spell and Trap Cards your opponent controls.**

**ATK/ 2500 DEF/ 1800**

**Elemental Hero Neos (LIGHT):**

**Level 7**

**[Warrior]**

**ATK/ 2500 DEF/ 2000**

**Assault Armor:**

**Equip Spell Card**

**Equip only to a Warrior-Type monster that's the only monster you control: it gains 300 ATK. During your Main Phase, you can send this equipped card to the Graveyard. If so, the equipped monster can attack twice during the Battle Phase this turn.**

_"__Now Neos," _said Memory-Jaden, _"Let's take his Reign-Beaux out for good!" _Growling angrily, he added, _"Now finish him off!" _

Kenzan, Chazz and the Rhodes siblings were surprised. They hadn't gotten to see this side of Jaden, and it was a little frightening. When Jaden had said, "let's finish him off!" his voice had had some sort of weird sound to it. An abnormal sound that no normal voice had.

In the memory, Neos jumped in the air, ready to strike down Reign-Beaux. _"Strike him down!" _Jaden ordered, sounding all the more sinister and threatening for it. Neos did as ordered, destroying Reign-Beaux and dropping Brron's Life Points to 1200.

_"__Hey Brron," _called Memory-Jaden, _"You ready for some more Neos? 'Cause when I remove Assault Armor, he gets to inflict a second dose of damage!"_

_"__Say what?" _asked Brron nervously.

_"__You heard me!" _snapped Jaden in the memory, _"Go Neos!"_

As the big silver warrior came in for the strike, Brron pressed a button on his Duel Disk. _"I activate the Spell Card Gateway to Dark World, which brings back my Reign-Beaux!"_

**Gateway to Dark World:**

**Quick-Play Spell Card**

**If you activate this card, you cannot Summon other monsters this turn. Special Summon 1 "Dark World" monster from your Graveyard.**

_"__You never learn," _remarked Jaden, _"Take him down again!" _Once again, Neos destroyed Reign-Beaux. _"I activate my Spell, Battle of Sleeping Spirits!" _Jaden announced, displaying the card for Brron to see.

**Battle of Sleeping Spirits**:**

**Quick-Play Spell Card**

**Activate only during the Battle Phase if a monster(s) was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Each player can Special Summon 1 of their monsters that was destroyed by battle this turn, with their effects negated.**

_"__Now we can both Summon a monster," _said Jaden, _"That was just destroyed! You know mine, and I know yours!" _Brron groaned; he hadn't foreseen _this._

_"__So Brron," _continued Jaden, _"As long as you keep bringing your Reign-Beaux back around, I'll keep on taking it down, over and over! And eventually, I'll have my revenge on you! So hurry up and resurrect it!"_

Alexis held her hand over her heart. _Revenge? _she gasped in her thoughts, _Jaden, this isn't like you._

It most certainly wasn't. _"I know this won't bring my friends back," _Jaden admitted, _"But watching you squirm sure makes me feel better! Let's do this!"_

Alexis gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. _Okay this _definitely _isn't like you, _she thought.

Meanwhile back in the memory, Brron was acting sheepish. _"I can't," _he admitted, referring to reviving Reign-Beaux, _"Since I just played my Spell Card Gateway, I can't Summon this turn."_

_"__Then I'm afraid _this,_" _said Jaden, _"Is goodbye!" _Bringing Neos back to the field, he shouted, _"Avenge my friends! Send him to the stars!" _

Neos struck Brron directly, knocking him over and reducing his Life Points to 0. The memory ended as the muse removed her hand from Jim, returning to her spot and dispersing the memory cloud.

The Matchless General looked over at Judge Man. "No further questions, Your Honor," he said, sufficed to have uncovered this. Walking back to his seat, he smiled to himself. In reality, the court already had overwhelming amounts of evidence proving Haou's guilt. But a little exposé on the guilty party never hurt: now the court wouldn't think twice about convicting him.

Jim regretfully walked back over to his seat, feeling he'd done more harm than good.

END OF CHAPTER

**So yeah, here's what's happening: originally, this chapter and the one before it were both one big chapter, but then it occurred to me that something like this would be better split into parts rather than just being one big chapter. Also, releasing two chapters today kind of makes up for the long wait, don't you think? Ah well, read and enjoy and please, if you have any thoughts about this chapter, please let me know because I feel encouraged every time I see your reviews. Happy reading!**

**Sincerely,**

**Naruto-Superman4**

**P.S. An important note to all my readers, I'm going back and giving my chapters one-word titles. If you don't understand the word that I use for the title, let me know in a review. As for this chapter, _Bilateral _means "having two sides," which I felt was perfect since Jaden himself has two sides, as well as the fact that Ophelia has another side to her as well. Have a nice day everyone.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - _Turnaround_

Jim regretfully walked back over to his seat, feeling he'd done more harm than good. On the way, he passed Jaden and got his attention. _I'm sorry,_ he mouthed. Jaden nodded and gave Jim a weak smile, letting him know that he didn't blame him. _I can't have my friends committing perjury, even if it _is _to save my life, _he thought, _That wouldn't be fair to them, and it would feel like how I treated them back then. _He looked down sadly; that particular dark moment against Brron couldn't have happened more than a month and a half ago, and yet here it was being dug up and brought back to haunt him. And since Jim had been a recently new addition to his group of friends, he, Axel and Jesse lacked the long history that Jaden had with the rest of his friends, so thus it was easier for the prosecution to use them against him.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over to see Freed the Brave Wanderer smiling at him. "Don't worry," replied the warrior, "We still have about six or seven more character witnesses to testify on your behalf, and your friend Mr. Cook actually did a pretty good job. His first memory-testimony _really _helped shed some light on the situation. These people have more of the facts now, and maybe after seeing you suffer in that memory they'll be less likely to execute you. That's our goal here, and I think your friend did a pretty good job of helping us reach it."

Jaden sunk back in his chair. "If you say so," he murmured. The Brave Wanderer gave him a small polite nod and returned to mulling over his notes for the case. He'd done his best to assure the red-coated youth that he had nothing to worry about, but from his voice just now, he sounded like he'd given up, which was rare for someone like Jaden. "Freed?" he heard Jaden ask suddenly.

"Yes?"

"Why're you doing all this?" Jaden asked him. "The character witnesses, the memory-testimonies, your determination to save my life, I…" he paused, "Just… why're you bothering?"

Freed turned to him, a little surprised at the question. He sighed, not understanding why this kid had trouble accepting his help. "Look," he said, "After you stopped Yubel, I was returned to my family. I was certain that I'd never see them again, but because of _you_, I was able to. You gave me my life back, and the least I can do is try to save yours as a way to say thank you."

"You shouldn't thank me."

"Well I am, and I insist on it, so you'll have to deal with it for the time being."

Jaden sat up suddenly. "Wait a minute," he said, "How come _you _got to come back but all the people I sent to the stars didn't?"

Freed paused uncomfortably for a moment before taking a deep breath in. "Look, nobody got to control who came back and who didn't. I was lucky. I don't know why I got to come back while others lost their loved ones for good, alright? After the whole thing was over, we tried to focus on who we _did _get back rather than who we didn't. We needed to savor all the little victories."

"But that means there were some people who lost loved ones they won't get back," Jaden pointed out, "And that's not fair to them."

Freed sighed. "That's why you're on trial," he said, "So that we can make this fairer to those who _didn't _get anyone back and envied those who did. But the reason I give a damn so much about saving your life Jaden, is because I owe you a debt for saving mine. That's _one _reason why I'm doing this," he swallowed the saliva he had in his throat and added, "Another reason is because when I fought with you against Zure, I could sense the good in you. I tend to do that. You know, look for the best in people."

Jaden gave a small nod to the warrior. "I don't deserve it, you know," he confessed. "I really don't. You're risking your reputation defending the guy who slaughtered a lot of your people. Why aren't you pissed at me like everyone else?"

Freed shrugged. "It's a combination of things really," he admitted. "I don't hold grudges, I still see the good in you, along with the fact I can tell you're a better man now than you were then."

"Keep telling yourself that," Jaden remarked, doing his best not to sound snarky to the guy who was bending over backwards and busting his ass trying to save _his. _Freed looked over at Jaden, concerned. "You don't _like_ yourself very much, do you?"

Before Jaden could answer, Judge Man called over to the Brave Wanderer, "Sir Freed the Younger, we're waiting for your second witness."

"Ah yes, please forgive me Your Honor," replied Freed, "The defense calls Axel Brodie to the stand."

To everyone's surprise, a cheer went up at the mention of Axel's name. Some called out "Our great hero!" and others simply pumped their fists. A few women swooned. Axel raised an eyebrow, but only for a split second: he didn't want them to think he didn't appreciate their salutations. Judge Man banged his gavel, calling for order. After the noise died down, Axel stood up to walk to the witness stand. When he was clear of the pew, Jim grabbed his arm. "Hold up, mate," he said, "Remember what I told you after I lost to the Supreme King?"

Axel nodded. "Save Jaden," he answered, and Jim nodded smiling. "Do that here," he told him. Axel nodded, making his way to the stand after Jim let him go. _Alright, _he thought to himself, _Just like last time, I'll finish what Jim started and save Jaden so we can all go home together._

# # #

"Mr. Brodie, what is your relationship to the defendant?" asked Freed the Brave Wanderer.

"We're friends," Axel replied, plain and simple.

"And how did you two become friends?"

"Well, we first met when I was tasked by Professor Viper-"

"The same Professor Viper mentioned by Mr. Cook in his testimony?"

"Yessir."

"I see. Go on."

"Professor Viper tasked me with facing Jaden in a Survival Duel and pushing him to his limit so that when he unleashed his true potential as a Duelist, Viper's Bio-Band would absorb all his energy."

"I see. Why were you associated with Professor Viper?"

"I was his protégé."

"I see; continue."

"After the Duel, I was bothered by the differences between the Survival Duels being held at Duel Academy and the kind held at home in West Academy, so I searched Viper's office to try and get some information."

"And what did you find out?"

"Just that Viper's base of operations was a lab somewhere out in the woods. I went there to search for clues and found Viper. I asked him about what was really going on but he wouldn't tell me anything. He then locked me up in a room saying I'd outlived my usefulness."

"So Viper betrayed you?"

"Yes."

"And what happened after he locked you in a room?"

"I was there for a while. Not too long, because after three hours the whole place started to crumble. I managed to make it out with some help from one of Jaden's friends, and we basically saved each other's lives, which Jaden and I bonded over in the school infirmary."

"What more can you tell us about the defendant from your time spent with him?"

"Everybody around him loved the guy; he was everyone's friend. He cared about people, and you could tell by how everyone else talked about him. Everywhere I went I kept hearing people say what a good guy he was. Looking back, it was kinda hard to get _away _from that stuff. Anyway, besides what I've told you, I've seen all the things in him that you heard from Jim."

"So your testimony to the defendant's character is the same as Mr. Cook's?"

Axel pondered for a moment. "Not really. My first impression of him wasn't of a slow guy at all. At first I just thought he talked too much and made too many stupid jokes."

"I see," Freed the Brave Wanderer paused for a moment, thinking about what he could use from that sentence. It didn't give him much to work with, but the younger Freed was determined to get his client spared the noose. "Mr. Brodie," he asked, "Let's flash-forward to the defendant's Duel against Brron, Mad King of Dark World. Is your recollection of these events the same as Mr. Cook's?"

"Yessir, exact same."

"Good, good. How would you describe the defendant's mental state after his friends were sacrificed to create the Super Polymerization card?"

"He was pretty pissed," replied Axel. "It seemed like his first time being truly angry. I've never seen him that way before, and I don't think any of his friends have either."

"So the defendant's rage was triggered by the loss of his friends?"

"Yes."

Freed paced for a bit and then returned to Axel, his face serious, but also suggesting they had a chance if Axel nailed this one right. "During Mr. Cook's Duel with Haou," he began, "When the two of you entered his mind, were the events that you two witnessed exactly as shown in Mr. Cook's memory-testimony?"

"Yessir, they were."

"Would you say then," asked the Brave Wanderer, his tone more hopeful, "That the loss of his friends was the primary factor for the defendant's transformation into Haou?"

Axel thought this over for a moment; this was a question that could play a major role in deciding Jaden's fate. And it _did _seem that way, so there was only one answer he could give. "Yes."

The Brave Wanderer smiled and nodded before looking up at Judge Man. "No further questions, Your Honor." He took his seat and the older Freed replaced him at the stand. "Mr. Brodie," he began, "Please give us your account of the events after Mr. Cook's Duel with Haou."

Axel shifted in his seat, wondering just how the Matchless General planned on using this against Jaden. He saw how he'd been able to twist Jim's testimony around to portray Jaden in an even worse light to these people. But did it really matter? Jaden still did what the court was accusing him of, so what was the point really of testifying on his behalf? _No! _thought Axel, mentally castigating himself, _I can't act like this! Jaden's a friend, and even if he did lose his way, he's back now, and he needs my help. I can't let him down; no matter what, I can't let Freed twist my testimony around. Maybe if I try giving a nonverbal testimony, it'll work out better. _He beckoned the muse over, saying, "I'd like to submit a memory-testimony, if that's alright."

"Of course," said the Matchless General, stepping aside so the muse could get over to Axel, who noticed that the older Freed's tone had been understanding rather than suspicious. Apparently he trusted him. _Well, I _did _save his people, _Axel thought to himself, _So that actually makes sense._

The muse placed her hand on Axel's forehead and raised her other hand high into the air. A memory cloud formed out of it and grew to its proper viewing size. The memory immediately began showing Jim and his pet alligator (or was it crocodile?) Shirley dispersing into light particles, joining the others in the stars. The Eye of Orichalcum rolled over to Memory-Axel, who picked it up, clenching it in his hand, which shook as he looked over to Haou standing before him, imposing his fear-inducing presence on him.

_"__Well," _said the Supreme King, _"You next?" _

Unwilling to face him, Memory-Axel turned and ran. A series of gasps and murmurs spread throughout the crowd watching Axel's memory-testimony. They thought that Axel had faced him the first time and succeeded; seeing him running away now sort of disappointed them. The Matchless General didn't blame him though. Even he would've been unnerved by Haou; the bastard just _had _that effect of making you tremble and be afraid.

The memory continued, showing Axel's guilt at having run away like a coward, placing his Duel Disk on the table in the same inn that he and Jim had stayed at previously before going to face the Supreme King. It later showed him trying to save Maiden of the Aqua from a series of hell-hounds, recovering his Duel Disk and realizing that no matter what, he had to face Haou in order to save Jaden like Jim asked him to. It continued to show Memory-Axel defeating some of Haou's underlings who'd been scheming to lead the last resistance to its doom and later teaming up with Aster Phoenix and Zane Truesdale to infiltrate Haou's castle, where the latter two took on Haou's remaining underlings so that Memory-Axel could get to Haou himself. Lastly, the memory showed the fateful Duel, in which Memory-Axel bravely fought Haou till the end, using his Volcanic Counter's effect to deal the Supreme King the same amount of damage the latter inflicted to him, effectively ending the Duel in a draw between the two and telling the others that the darkness surrounding Jaden's heart was gone before dispersing into stardust. At this point, the memory-testimony ended and the muse retracted her hand from Axel's forehead, dispersing the memory cloud and retreating to her post in the corner of the courtroom setup. The Matchless General nodded approvingly before returning over to Axel.

"Impressive," he admitted, "I don't think I would've been that brave."

Axel grinned sheepishly, "I didn't _feel _that brave," he admitted.

"Of course not," replied Freed, "Bravery isn't something you feel; it's something you demonstrate."

He turned around for a moment to gather his argument in his head. "Mr. Brodie, how terrified were you of Haou during the time you spent running from him up until you faced him?"

Axel looked at him, surprised. "Pretty terrified," he admitted, "I was so afraid that I almost couldn't function. He really got under my skin."

"Have you ever been this fearful of anything before?"

Axel looked down, a bad feeling forming in his gut. "No," he said, "I was raised to always have my senses on high alert so that nothing could ever do me in."

"What training would this include?"

"Well," said Axel, starting to regret this, "I would train for Duels by putting myself in danger and escaping from the situation. During my time at Duel Academy, this involved hanging myself from the edge of a cliff and getting out safely."

"And despite all this intense training, that would surely ensure a fearless soldier, Haou was still able to cut through it and intimidate you?"

Axel saw immediately what Freed was getting at. But he still had to answer the question with the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. "Yes," he answered regretfully. He felt the guilt form in his heart and spread throughout the rest of his body. Freed had found a way to turn his testimony against Jaden, just as he'd done with Jim. _He really is matchless,_ thought Axel, _No matter what I tried to do to make Jaden look like a soul that needed saving, this guy's using my fear to further bring home the point that Haou's terrifying and evil. _He looked down shamefully. _Shit; even though I came up and did my best, I still couldn't help Jaden. _He looked over at the redcoat sitting at the defendant's table next to the armored knight. He wasn't even looking back.

The Matchless General had gotten bored of Axel by this point, so he looked over at Judge Man and said, "No further questions Your Honor," before returning to his seat. As he was dismissed from the stand, Axel walked back over to his seat, hoping that Jaden would look up so that he could apologize for not helping him like he should've. Fortunately the redcoat looked up at him and Axel stepped forward, hoping to say "I'm sorry" as quickly as he could, but Jaden held up a shackled hand and nodded, indicating he understood. To Axel's relief, he even mouthed "Thank you," before looking back down. He returned to his seat, ashamed. "I couldn't do it Jim," he said, "I tried, but…"

"I know," said Jim, understanding. "Freed has a way of taking your testimonies and turning them around, using his words to turn them around and put Jaden in an unfavorable light. Don't sweat it though mate, you did your best." He patted Axel on the back as the other boy sat back down and the Brave Wanderer called up his next witness.

# # #

"What is your relationship to the defendant?"

"We're friends," replied Chazz, "And Dueling rivals."

"And how did you two become friends?"

"We forged a competitive rivalry," answered Chazz.

"Can you tell us about the defendant from your time spent with him?" asked the Brave Wanderer.

"He always seemed like a happy-go-lucky, idiotic person," replied Chazz, "Even when the world was at stake, he seemed to be having a blast."

A series of murmurs went throughout the crowd as Chazz realized too late what he'd just said and how he'd just made Jaden look. Alexis glared at him from her seat. _Chazz, _she grumbled to herself, _You idiot! _

After his gaffe, Chazz tried to make up for it by explaining at length how Jaden had been "nice enough" to clean up after his messes, describing to the court in nauseating detail how Jaden never held it over him that it had nearly been his fault the world had almost been in jeopardy because of him. He continued by explaining how Jaden had saved him and then Alexis from the clutches of the Society of Light during their second year. But his ramblings wore thin, and at one point, even Judge Man interrupted him to say "Move it along."

Chazz gulped. He was losing them, and if he didn't say something to portray Jaden favorably soon, these people would give his friend the chair, and Chazz didn't like the thought of Jaden dying because _he _slipped up. But the weird thing was, it wasn't out of selfishness or a need to save face that he fretted this: looking out at the still-shivering, impotent-looking shell of a man he'd once shared a dorm with and called his rival, Chazz realized that without Jaden around, he had virtually no reason to hang out with Alexis and the others. Without him, there existed no justification for him standing around near his crush all the time. And you know what? Deep down, Chazz even figured there was a part of him that _liked _the guy. _Quit fucking around, _he told himself, _This is serious. Do you _want _Jaden to get the chair? C'mon Princeton, get your shit together! You'll be out the best rival you ever had if you don't!_

He heard the Brave Wanderer say "No further questions, Your Honor," and gulped nervously as the Matchless General walked over to him. Fortunately no one saw.

The older Freed, hopelessly bored by this point by Chazz's long-winded and quite frankly poorly-constructed attempt to improve the defendant's situation, decided to make this quick. He was done wasting his time grilling people who were only here to talk about the good times they'd had with someone who didn't even _want _them here; no, Haou _himself _was the one he wanted to interrogate.

"Mr. Princeton," he began, hiding his boredom and appearing as serious as possible, "Give us your account of the events that happened up to your disappearance."

Chazz promptly spent the next fifteen minutes recapping: Jaden leading them into the alternate dimension and his Duels with Scarr and Zure. He took a breath to continue, but then decided against it and beckoned the muse over. "I'd like to continue this as a memory-testimony," he said. The Matchless General nodded. "Of course Mr. Princeton, please proceed." The muse placed her hand on Chazz's head and a memory cloud appeared, picking up after Jaden's Duel with Zure.

Memory-Jaden turned to his friends. _"Jesse's still out there," _he said, _"So who's with me? I'm going to search every cave and fight every monster in this place until I find him, even if I have to risk everything to do it."_

The white orbs Zure left behind began disappearing, one by one. _"This place just ain't right," _murmured Memory-Kenzan to those listening. Meanwhile, Memory-Jaden began searching the caves as the rest of them waited just outside the gates of the prison camp.

_"__Where's Jaden?" _asked Memory-Axel.

_"__I think he went on a walkabout," _replied Memory-Jim.

_"__Yeah, I saw him go up that hill before," _explained Memory-Atticus.

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen. _"Man," _complained Memory-Alexis, _"How long is Jaden gonna be up there?"_

_"__Who knows?" _replied Memory-Jim.

_"__Maybe he's throwing himself a find-Jesse party," _murmured Memory-Chazz. The Ojamas chimed in, although he quickly sent them packing.

_"__He said Kuriboh found something," _said Memory-Syrus, _"But he didn't say what."_

_"__Yeah well," _remarked Memory-Kenzan bitterly, _"He didn't have to leave us out here in the dark."_

The present Jaden felt his heart wrench a little as he heard that. But he was about to feel even worse from what he heard next.

_"__I know," _replied Memory-Alexis, _"I'm starting to think that it's not really all for one anymore. I mean, we _all _came to this world; we _all _want to find Jesse; we all want to help Freed's people but Jaden's not asking for our help or our input." _Jaden cringed when he heard that; hearing the words from Alexis' mouth felt like a hand had grabbed his heart and started squeezing.

_"__So?" _asked Atticus in the memory, _"Sure he might be taking us for granted, but we're still here aren't we? And we're here because we trust the guy. He's yet to let us down." _Jaden's heart felt another squeeze, tighter this time. These people had put their trust in him and he'd let them down in the worst possible way.

_"__Just you wait," _said Memory-Chazz, _"'Cause I think Jaden's only looking out for two people." _He took a moment to yell at the Ojamas.

All of a sudden, everyone in the memory heard a voice. _"Hey guys, check it out!" _They all turned to see Jaden riding on a group of Sonic Ducks, clutching a piece of paper. _"Kuriboh found us a map of this place and a way to get around. They'll take us to each fortress, maybe Jess is in one of them."_

_"_Each _fortress?" _asked Chazz, bothered. _"How many goblin-infested fortresses are you going to drag us to, each one on that map? What if we don't _find _him?"_

_"__It's no biggie," _replied Memory-Jaden, _"There's lots of other places to look." _

The present Jaden thumped his head on the table where he sat. _It's no biggie _he'd told them when he'd missed the point of what Chazz really meant: _How long are you going to keep ignoring us? _

Memory-Jaden continued. _"But the fort tour comes first, so we can find Freed's peeps too, cool?"_

_"__No, it's _not _cool, alright?" _Memory-Chazz responded, but from the way Memory-Jaden responded, you'd think he took no notice.

_"__Easy does it, just _trust _me, will ya? Now let's get movin' guys."_

_"__Hold on, we gotta-"_

_"__Hya!" _As if ignoring him completely, Jaden flicked the reins on his duck, which sped into a trot. With complaints and some pointing out from Axel and Jim, the others got on their ducks and followed him. It didn't last long: after a few miles, Chazz, Kenzan and the Rhodeses had all fallen off and were stranded in the middle of nowhere, not knowing where to go and each one beginning to feel the effects of their rune. Time passed.

_"__It's been like, forever," _Chazz complained, _"And I can't believe Jaden hasn't come looking for us yet."_

_"__You know?" _asked Kenzan, _"I bet he never even realized we're not with him, and I bet that he don't care either way."_

"What?" uttered the present Jaden to himself in disbelief. _How could they think I wouldn't care what happened to them? Of course I'd care! Why would he… _He stopped, knowing the answer to that question before he even finished it. _Because I was more concerned with finding Jesse than taking care of the rest of them. It's my fault they felt this way._

That feeling of Jaden's cemented as he kept watching. In the memory, Atticus was trying to reassure them, although it didn't go well.

_"__Let's think positive thoughts everyone. I'm sure if Jaden knew what happened to us, he'd… ah, who am I kidding? He's probably long gone."_

_"__I know he means well," _said Memory-Alexis, _"But… I don't know, he seems different than usual. It's like he's not even thinking about us at all." _

Jaden's heart sank. He made them feel this way. _It's my fault they became that way. _

_"__That's right!" _snapped Memory-Chazz angrily, as his rune appeared, _"He isn't! All he's thinking about is himself! This is about _Jaden _feeling better! He doesn't care what happens to us!"_

_That's not true, _thought Jaden in the present, _I care about what happens to _all _my friends! _He looked down. _At least I should've._

_"__How could he just run ahead without waiting?!" _shouted Memory-Kenzan a rune appearing on him as well,_ "He'd better have a good excuse for his actions, or else I'm gonna court-martial 'em!"_

_"__You know," _said Memory-Atticus, his own rune showing itself on his wrist, _"It's like every decision he makes puts so much strain on each one of us. Watching how it affects all my close friends, it's just tearing me up inside."_

As the rune for sadness appeared on her arm, Memory-Alexis murmured, _"And he's only doing the right thing to feel better about himself. Think about it: he's got no problem ditching us out here. You know, this new attitude is really bumming me out."_

_"__Where is he?!" _asked Chazz, holding up a fist, _"He needs a wake-up call, and the next time I see him-"_

_"__We're _lost,_" _Memory-Kenzan pointed out, _"And there may not _be _a next time!" _

_"__We're goners," _moaned Atticus, _"We'll never see Duel Academy again! And soon we'll have to resort to eating rocks and…"_

_"__Stop that," _said his sister, _"You're totally depressing me."_

Suddenly, an evil laugh penetrated the atmosphere around them, and soon enough they were all being manhandled by Goldd and Silva. The muse fast-forwarded the memory to where Jaden was Dueling Brron in the midst of the arena. Chazz, Kenzan and the Rhodeses had just been revealed. Chazz had just woken up, and Jaden was calling to him.

_"__Hey Chazz! Help's on the way, man! I'll bust you out of those chains in a sec, hang tight!"_

_"__You better!" _replied Chazz indignantly, _"'Cause if you didn't know it, I'm _in _these chains 'cause of you! And hang tight?! If it weren't for you I'd be maxin' and relaxin' back at Duel Academy! But you gotta go and make yourself feel better!" _At this point, the others woke up.

_"__You're always just running headfirst into things, never thinking about the consequences!"_

_"__Chazz, what are you talking about, I-"_

_"__I'll tell you what I'm talking about!" _Chazz thundered, _"You ran into that portal knowing your friends would never let you go alone! It's all fun and games with Jaden, and now you act all cool and tell me to hang tight?! I'm in _chains_, man; I CAN'T HANG ANY TIGHTER!" _

At this moment, Chazz's rune glowed, sending him away. The memory-testimony ended and the muse withdrew her hand from Chazz's head and returned to her spot, allowing the Matchless General to approach the black-coated youth.

"Mr. Princeton," he began, "It's true that when you said those things you were under the influence of the Wicked Runes, correct?"

"Correct," replied Chazz. Immediately he felt a glimmer of hope; maybe he could use this to help get Jaden back in a better light. The Matchless General saw this and mentally shook his head. "But given how the defendant was acting at the time, would you say that any reasonable person would act this way _without _having to be under any influence?"

_Oh shit. _Chazz froze. _So much for that plan. _He opened his mouth to speak, but was still trying to piece together something in his mind that could help get Jaden off the hook. The Matchless General, ever living up to his name, sighed and said, "Mr. Princeton, may I remind you that you're under oath? You are obligated to tell this court the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I've asked a question and you _must _answer."

Chazz bowed his head, defeated. "Yes."

"Thank you," said the Matchless General. He turned to Judge Man. "No further questions Your Honor."

Chazz walked back to his seat, feeling lower than a blade of grass. _God dammit, _he thought, _No matter what I try to say, that Freed can just turn it around against Jaden. _He looked over at the redcoat, wondering if he was looking back. But Jaden just sat there with his head looking down regretfully, not even bothering to look back at him, even closing his eyes so that wouldn't happen. Feeling there was nothing he could say to alleviate the situation, Chazz looked forward again, put his hands in his pockets and walked back to his seat.

# # #

"Mr. Hassleberry, tell us about the day you met the defendant."

"Uhhh… sure," said Kenzan, "The day we first met, I was beating people in Duels and taking their Duel Disks. Once I met the Sarge, he challenged me and won. We bonded during the Duel."

"Alright then, please tell us more." With that, Kenzan began talking about all the different times Jaden had inspired someone, shown them the way, and he even mentioned Jaden saving the world from the Light of Destruction at the end of last year. When he was done, the two Freeds changed places. Kenzan stared down the Matchless General; like him, he was a military man who'd grown up with the ideals of service and community. There was no way Kenzan would let this guy turn his testimony against Jaden.

"Mr. Hassleberry," began the Matchless General, "If we were to ask you for a memory-testimony, would it be the same as Mr. Princeton's?"

"Yes sir," replied Kenzan, regretting his answer; he already felt like the Matchless General had what he needed from that one response.

"Very well then," said the General, beckoning over the muse, "Let's get to it then."

Kenzan was slightly disappointed that the General wasn't asking him more questions, but like a good soldier, he followed his orders. The memory cloud came up, displaying what happened after Chazz vanished.

_"__I'm so distressed," _said Atticus, _"Because when Jaden attacks, one of us-"_

_"__Will wind up in that book like Chazz did," _finished his sister. _"It's just terrible that _we _were the ones singled out."_

_"__Man, I'm so mad!" _shouted Memory-Kenzan to Jaden, _"You get yourself in a Duel, and we end up havin' to pay for your recklessness?!"_

_"__Guys, I'm so sorry," _replied Memory-Jaden, eyes wide. Brron then opened his mouth and spat some more things about how they were all just pawns for the "Great Fusion Card," although no one was probably listening to him. Jaden ended his turn and Brron made his move, the field being as follows:

**Wicked Canon:**

**Continuous Spell Card**

**When you take Battle Damage, you can send 1 "Wicked Rune" Spell Card from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard. You can banish this face-up card you control and all "Wicked Rune" cards from your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 Fusion Material Monster from your Deck that's listed on a Fusion Monster in your Fusion Deck that can only be Special Summoned with "Super Polymerization", and whose Level is equal to or less than the number of "Wicked Rune" Spell Cards removed x 2.**

**(Current number of Runes: 1)**

**Elemental Hero Sparkman (LIGHT):**

**Level 4**

**[Warrior]**

**ATK/ 1600 DEF/ 1400**

For his turn, Brron Summoned Zure, Knight of Dark World to the field-

**Zure, Knight of Dark World (DARK):**

**Level 4**

**[Fiend]**

**ATK/ 1800 DEF/ 1500**

-with which he attacked Memory-Jaden's Sparkman, bringing Jaden down to 3800 Life Points, which now were tied with the Mad King's.

_"__Don't just stand there!" _shouted Memory-Kenzan, _"You got us into this! Find a way to get us out or I'll break these chains and turn you into a constellation myself!"_

The Duel continued as Brron Set two cards and ended his turn. Memory-Jaden drew a card, looking at it for a bit, only to switch it with another card in his hand. _"I Summon Elemental Hero Avian in Defense Mode!"_

**Elemental Hero Avian (WIND):**

**Level 3**

**[Warrior]**

**ATK/ 1000 DEF/ 1000**

He got a chorus of boos after this. _"Don't worry my fiends!" _called Brron, _"This next move will entertain you all! I activate my Darkness Half Trap Card!"_

**Darkness Half:**

**Continuous Trap Card**

**Halve the ATK of a face-up monster you control to Special Summon 2 "Dark Tokens" (Fiend-Type/DARK/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) to your opponent's side of the field in Attack Position. When this card's removed from the field, destroy the monster whose ATK you halved. When that monster's removed from the field, destroy this card.**

Two Dark Tokens emerged onto Jaden's side of the field. _"Doesn't matter," _Jaden said to him, _"I still won't attack you! I'm not letting them become pages in your Canon!"_

_"__Unfortunately," _countered Brron, _"That choice is no longer yours! Because now I activate my Trap Card, Dark Tournament!"_

**Dark Tournament:**

**Normal Trap Card**

**Change all monsters on the field to face-up Attack Position. This turn, all face-up Attack Position monsters must declare an attack, if able, and if monsters battle, they cannot be destroyed by battle.**

Elemental Hero Avian stood up, surrounded by a yellow-orange glow. _"Huh?!" _gasped Memory-Jaden, surprised, _"You're in Attack Mode?!"_

_"__This Trap _forces _your monsters to fight!" _explained Brron, _"It appears you'll attack me after all! Now say goodbye to your friends! It's time to add another chapter to my Wicked Canon!"_

_"__Jaden, no!" _called out Kenzan.

_"__Don't let him!" _pleaded Alexis.

_"__Jaden, please!" _begged Atticus, _"Don't let this happen!"_

_"__No! Avian, you can't do this!" _Memory-Jaden begged his monster. But it was no use as Dark Tournament's effect forced the green winged warrior to strike at Zure.

_"__Oh no!" _gasped Memory-Jaden. The two Dark Tokens jumped up to follow Avian's lead. _"Wait, don't attack!" _His words fell on deaf ears as the two tokens struck at Zure, ensuring the fate of his friends.

_"__Aaaahhhh!" _cried Brron as he took the damage, although his cry soon turned to a cackle. _"Jaden," _he said sinisterly, _"Because of your monster's attacks, the effect of my Wicked Canon Spell Card is now activated, so bid your friends goodbye! Hatred! Anguish! Sadness!" _he called out the names of the three remaining Wicked Rune Spell Cards left in his Deck as they flew out and disappeared.

Memory-Kenzan's mark glowed. _"Aaaaahhh!" _he shouted, _"Hey Jaden! How could you do this to all of us?! I guess we're not as important as Jesse!"_

_"__You're wrong!" _insisted Memory-Jaden, _"It's not that at all!"_

_"__Then what is it?" _asked Atticus, _"You just gave up on all of us? It's eating me up! How could you send us away?!"_

The redcoat didn't have an answer for that one. Instead, he turned to the last person he hoped he could convince. _"Alexis?" _he asked tentatively.

The blonde girl looked down at him dejectedly. _"I thought we were friends, but I was wrong," _she said, tearing at the present Jaden's heartstrings in ways he couldn't explain. _"We don't matter and it's so sad to know that."_

_"__No Lex," _pleaded Jaden's past self. But the damage was done. Their Runes flew off of them and into Brron's Wicked Canon, dispersing the three of them into light. _"This can't be!" _moaned Jaden in the memory. But it was. At this point, the memory-testimony ended as that was all the recollection Kenzan had of the events, so the muse retracted her hand from his head and returned to her station. The Matchless General walked over to Kenzan to question him.

"Mr. Hassleberry, even though you were under the influence of the Wicked Runes, was anything you were feeling during that time based from true feelings from your heart?" he asked.

Kenzan looked up at Jaden. It was strange in a way; Jaden had failed to save them when they absolutely needed him too, and now they were all getting the chance to see what it was like to fail their cherished friend when _he _needed them. He was now part of an ever-growing group of people - which already included Jim, Axel and Chazz – who understood now how Jaden felt then. The Matchless General dismissed him and he walked back to his seat, sitting down next to Alexis.

"You know," he said to her, "After letting Jaden down with that shitty testimony I gave, I can understand sort of how he felt back then."

Alexis turned to him. "Really?" she asked. Kenzan nodded. "I feel like I can truly forgive him now, and out of the honest bottom of my heart," he told her. Alexis was about to say something in response, but before she could she was drowned out by Judge Man's booming voice saying, "We will now be taking a fifteen-minute recess."

The people in the stands got up to stretch their legs, and the Duel Academy students followed their lead. The Brave Wanderer came over to escort them out, and Alexis saw the Matchless General reach over with a large burly arm and yank Jaden forcefully out of his seat by the collar, causing the redcoat to stumble. Grabbing him by the arm now, the older Freed roughly escorted Jaden down the aisle, passing her and the rest of his friends by.

"Jaden!" they called out to him, whether simultaneously or individually, attempting to get their friend to turn around and talk to them. To their dismay, instead of turning to face them and trying to get a few words in before Freed took him away, Jaden actually closed his eyes and turned _away _from them, wordlessly allowing the bigger man to roughhouse him through the doors and down the hall, in the opposite direction from the one they'd arrived in.

Alexis frowned; it upset her greatly to see Jaden like this. It wasn't just his mistreatment at the Matchless General's hands that bothered her, but also just the general way Jaden was in; in the past, whenever Jaden stepped up to save the day, he'd done so with a smile and a way about him that made it seem like he was fully in control and that the bad guy had no chance whatsoever of succeeding in their dastardly schemes as long as he was around to stop them. In a way, Jaden was a lot like the superheroes he read about in comic books and the very Hero cards that he played in his Deck; no matter what the opposition was, Jaden had been full of ways to stop them, and he did so effortlessly, brimming with confidence all the way.

But there was none of that here now. Instead of his usual energy and vigor, Jaden had walked languidly by, looking skinnier than what most considered healthy for a boy his age, and pale as well with dark circles around his eyes. _He's been so quiet and contained too, even though he's got all the energy in the world, _she thought, _So why doesn't he have any of that energy now? _Doing nothing to defend himself as most of the people around him wanted him dead, shivering cold and unhappy in the face of this trial, and when compared to how Jaden had looked and acted during the first two and a half years she'd known him, it was a shock to see Jaden so impotent – so powerless.

She remembered what the Brave Wanderer had told her regarding Jaden's physical state: _He was like that when we found him. _But that couldn't be: that would mean he did that to himself_, _which was much harder to believe than a group of jilted victims of war crimes starving and mistreating him. And bothering her still was Jaden's insistence on them not being here. _Why wouldn't Jaden want us here? _Alexis pondered, feeling somewhat hurt. _We're his friends and we want to help him, but it's like he doesn't want us to. In fact, it looked like if Jaden had his way he'd send us all back to Duel Academy where we couldn't interfere._

She chastened herself for thinking such a thought; Jaden would _never _do anything like that – at least, not intentionally_, _so whatever reason he was insisting Freed take them home had to be a good one, right?

Alexis shifted her stance; she didn't like being left in the dark, especially regarding matters related to Jaden. If this trial were taking place a year ago, Alexis knew the brunet would be straining against those chains that bound him and digging in his heels, trying to stop Freed from pulling him away from them so that he could come over and talk to his friends and reassure them all that things would be okay. After all, he would do that because he cared about them. But if Jaden really cared about his friends, then why _hadn't _he dug in his heels and try to get a word in edgewise? _It can't be because he doesn't like us anymore, _Alexis thought, _People don't just stop liking each other. There's got to be something else, but I don't know what. _She frowned even more when a nagging sensation entered her subconscious. _He's keeping things from you, _whispered the subconscious thought, _He's in the middle of something, but he doesn't want you to know. _She shook her head, banishing the unwelcome notion from her mind; if something was up with Jaden, he'd tell her – right?

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Chazz. "C'mon," he beckoned her to follow him and the rest of their group behind Freed as the Brave Wanderer escorted them back through the heavy doors, "The recess' starting, and we need to work on a plan to get Jaden out of the hot seat and check up on Ophelia."

Alexis smiled weakly and nodded, "Yeah, right behind you." And with that, she followed her companions through the doors to the warm waiting area behind them.

# # #

"So, Alexis and Sy, what're you two gonna say for your testimonies?" asked Kenzan, "Chazz and mine kinda sucked, so we need you guys to do your best if we're gonna clear Jaden's name."

"That's not helping, Hassleberry," Chazz admonished, "And besides, we're not here to _clear Jaden's name_-" he narrowed his eyes and scrunched up his face as he articulated the words, indicating his distaste for the Ra student not realizing why they were there. "-We're just here to tell the court what a _swell guy _Jaden is, and beg for them not to give him the chair while we're at it."

"How is what _you _said any better than what I said?" asked Kenzan, irritated. "You're not helping this situation either Princeton, not with an attitude like that!"

"Oh, _I'm _sorry!" scoffed Chazz, "What do you want me to say, Hassleberry? 'Oh well, we failed, but chin up gang, we'll be out of this mess in a jiffy, just you wait!' Get _real _Dino-brain, and _face _it! We failed, and it's because we're trying to defend someone who doesn't even _want _us here! _Think _about it; we don't see Jaden for over a month because _he _wants to be left alone, and then once we're brought here to try and bust him out of this _clusterfuck _he got himself into, he shuns us!" Chazz finally stopped shouting and folded his arms out in front of him. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm being an asshole," he said, "It's just that ever since we all went into that other dimension, Jaden's grown distant from us, and now that we're all back, it feels like he's not even willing to try and catch up with us after it all. I mean, it makes me feel like shit, like I don't even matter to that guy." He looked out at the rest of his friends. "Don't any of you guys feel the same way?"

Nobody had an answer for that. Or rather they did, but nobody was willing to say anything about it. To admit they felt the same way Chazz did would be to admit that there was a problem amongst their group, a case of dysfunction that was too uncomfortable to address. For that reason, an uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a good five minutes before Alexis took Syrus aside. The two of them sat down on the nearest bench, inhaling and exhaling as they tried their best to get the butterflies out.

Alexis turned her head to Syrus. "Any idea what you're going to say for your testimony?" she asked, frowning inwardly as the words came out in a more casual tone than she meant for. The blue-haired boy looked up at her and nodded wordlessly. Alexis scuttled in closer and lowered her voice.

"Syrus, I was hoping you could tell me something about Jaden from the time you two spent together in the other dimension. You know, after Jaden stopped being that horrible thing."

She saw the shorter man shudder a bit at the memory of the Supreme King and immediately regretted bringing it up. "Why do you want to know?" he asked.

"Well," began Alexis, "I didn't see you there with the rest of us after Brron sacrificed us all to create that card of his. Can you at least tell me how Jaden acted _after _you guys brought him back from the brink? You know-"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Syrus interjected, "He was really downcast, Alexis. Everywhere he went after Axel brought him back, he was quiet and mopey. I think he was trying to cope with the shock of doing all the things he did." He looked into the Queen's hazel irises. "He was even afraid to Fusion Summon for a time."

Alexis' eyebrows shot up. "Really?" she asked. Syrus nodded, "Through Duels with one of his former underlings-I forget his name-and then Zane, Jaden just couldn't get it together. It wasn't until he found and faced Jesse in a Duel that he was able to conquer his fear."

"Wait," interrupted Alexis, "Jaden _Dueled _Jesse?"

"Yeah," replied Syrus, "Only it wasn't really him; it was Yubel possessing him and using him as a vessel. Jaden conquered his fear by bringing out a monster called Rainbow Neos, which is Neos and Jesse's Rainbow Dragon merged together."

"How'd that happen?"

Syrus looked at Alexis knowingly. "With the card you were all sacrificed for," he admitted. "He activated it and used it to fuse Rainbow Dragon and Neos together. It's a pretty powerful card too, and he was hesitant to use it. I think it was because of what he used it for as the Supreme King alongside the fact that he felt bad about using a card you guys were sacrificed to create."

"Tell me more about this card, Sy."

"Well," said the blue-haired boy. "It's called Super Polymerization, and the Fusion Materials you use to Fusion Summon the Monster can come from _either _side of the field, and if that weren't enough, cards and effects can't activate in response to it."

Alexis whistled. A Fusion card that could force-polymerize the opponent's monsters with your own and couldn't be negated was some pretty powerful shit. "Seems like a card Jaden would use all right," she mused, "It would fit in well in his Deck." She turned back to Syrus. "I'm sorry, I got sidetracked by the card. Tell me more about Jaden. Did he feel better about himself after saving Jesse?"

"Well," said Syrus, "After he saved Jesse, he went to Duel Yubel. Since both of us had promised Zane we'd look after each other, I followed him. When I arrived, the Duel was in progress and…" Syrus paused for a moment, "He used the powers of the Supreme King."

Alexis' eyes widened. "Really?"

Syrus nodded. "Yubel taunted him about that, and I could tell he felt like an asshole for using them. He thought that if you guys knew that he used the Supreme King's powers, you'd never forgive him."

Alexis' eyebrows shot up. "Why the hell would Jaden think that?" she asked, "If he used the powers that he'd wrought havoc with to try and right his wrongs, then obviously we'd all forgive him. I know I would."

Syrus' face fell. "Well yeah, but you saw all that he did there in the courtroom as the Supreme King. That's scary shit he did, Alexis. People's lives are now eternally ruined because of him, and it's because of that that they won't let him off the hook so easily." Syrus' expression changed to one of revelation. "Maybe _that's _why Jaden's been shutting us out so much recently! He's still dealing with this whole thing!"

"Maybe," Alexis concurred as a small sphere of hope began to illuminate her downcast mood. "But why would Jaden insist on dealing with all of that alone? Why wouldn't he want us there with him?"

Syrus shrugged. "I don't think it would be a private matter for him," he admitted, "Since we were all affected. I think Jaden's keeping us at an arm's length to protect us."

"That doesn't make sense," Alexis pointed out, "Yubel's gone, so what would we need protecting from?" she scowled a bit. "And I'm also kind of offended that Jaden's being this elusive secret-keeper to protect us-_if _he's doing it, that is. If there's something out there that we need to stop in its tracks, we have every right to know about it, Sy. Once this trial's done, let's go catch up with Jaden and make him tell us the whole scoop."

"How very Lois Lane of you," uttered a familiar voice. The two Obelisk Blue students sitting on the bench, along with their friends (save for Ophelia Rayne) perked up immediately at the sound of their old friend and former classmate. Standing there at the end of the hallway with a tanned muscular woman next to him was…

"Bastion!" the gang ran over to him and after a hug from Alexis and a long series of man-hugs and pats on the back from his fellow men, the former Ra student (who still wore the jacket, oddly enough) straightened up and replied, "Huh? What?"

"I said," repeated Alexis, "Why'd you say 'how very Lois Lane of you?'"

"Oh," the Ra student grinned. "Jaden, Syrus and I would lounge around sometimes and read American comic books. For me it was _Watchmen _and _Before Watchmen, _for Syrus it was _Wonder Woman, _which I'm guessing was for obvious reasons-"

"Hey!" came the reply from the indignant Obelisk. He'd rather the girls in the group _not _see him as perverted.

"-but with Jaden," said Bastion, "It was always more than one superhero, like with _Justice League _and whatnot, but I think his favorite comic was Superman, and don't tell Jaden I told you this, but he'd make comparisons between people he knew and characters from his comics. He frequently compared you to Lois Lane."

Alexis raised her eyebrows. She was a little flattered, but also a little wary. "Why was I Lois Lane?" she asked. She didn't read comic books or manga, but like everyone else in the world, she knew who Superman and Lois Lane were, and she was curious because since the two of them were soulmates, maybe that meant Jaden thought of her as…?

Bastion glanced at the ceiling as he racked his brains. "As I recall, he noted Lois Lane to be a very independent and strong-willed woman and said you were the same."

"Oh." Alexis' shoulders fell. She'd expected to hear something different. _Goddammit, _she thought, _What will it take to get him to think of me that way? _And so, continuing in a slightly hurt tone. "Why didn't Jaden tell me about this?" she asked.

"Well," said Bastion, "We're talking about a guy who loved to read comic books and compare them to people he knew. Maybe he thought you'd think he was weird?"

"Oh," replied Alexis for the second time. "It's just that I want Jaden to be open with me about things like that. I mean, it would've been nice to hear about some of his interests."

"Just so you know," Kenzan interjected suddenly, "The rest of us can hear you."

"Hah?!" Alexis' head whirred around suddenly, catching raised eyebrows and bemused smirks from those around her, except for Chazz who was turned away from her, clenching his jaw as he tried not to cry. _Shit, _she thought.

"Anyway Bastion," Syrus uttered, tactfully changing the subject, "What brings you and Tania here?" he asked, returning the smile the Amazon woman was giving him for including her.

"Bit of a long story," said Bastion, "After I decided to stay here with Tania, we lived here for a bit before I decided that I couldn't take it anymore as this place is just too different from home. So I figured we'd try to find someone who could zap us both home to Duel Academy. While we walked through town, we heard someone say 'that rat bastard Haou is finally getting what he deserves-'" He saw everyone else flinch at the mention of the name _Haou _and continued. "-and we asked him about it. He told us about the trial, and I decided to come here to testify on Jaden's behalf. Am I too late?"

"I don't think so," replied Kenzan, "Although I'm not sure if they'll accept any latecomers."

"Don't worry about that," said Bastion, "All I have to do is tell them I was with Jaden at some point, which I was. Once they hear that, they'll want to know about it."

The others grinned at him and began to lead him and Tania towards the coat rack, introducing him to Ophelia Rayne along the way. Bastion smiled, glad to know that there was another British person around whom he could talk to when the others got weird.

# # #

"Get in your _cage, _asshole," rumbled a guard as he unlocked the door to Jaden's cell and shoved him inside. Jaden lost his footing and stumbled, falling flat on his face to the floor of the holding cell as the guards laughed. "Here," Jaden heard a guard say, hearing him step towards him, "Got a drink for you."

Jaden turned his head to gratefully accept the drink, but regretted it immediately as his entire body was once again doused in liquid ice. Jaden gasped, coughed, squinted and shook as his body went through a frigid refresher course. The guards left the cell, locking the door as the last one went out, and appointed a sentry to watch the prisoner. The sentry pulled up a chair to the wall opposite Jaden's cell and sat down to look at the pathetic little man in front of him.

Jaden stood up, wiping his eyes on his sleeves. His cell was dimly-lit, dirty and depressing, its walls covered in hues of boring neutral colors. To his chagrin, there was also a draft, and he shivered miserably as he looked around the dreary place that was to be his residence for fifteen minutes.

He sat down on the bed, which bothered him even more; despite having springs, the mattress was stiff and hard, and lying down on it was like lying down on a wooden floor without a carpet. So Jaden sat up on the bed instead, holding his head in his hands and wishing for the whole thing to just hurry up and be over with. Pissing him off even more was the sentry grinning like a jackass, an annoying smirk plastered all over his smirking, smirk-covered face.

But regardless of how depressed and miserable his accommodations made him feel, Jaden still remained philosophical regarding his situation. He knew what he'd done, and he intended to make up for it in any way possible. He leaned his head back and inhaled. Then he exhaled. _Keep calm, _he told himself, _This will all be over shortly. _He had no doubts that the Brave Wanderer would secure his right to live. He believed in the warrior's ability to appeal to people; it was the reason people trusted him so much after all, and the younger Freed's reputation had enough standing to convince people to allow him… what was that thing that said that people should be brought before a trial?

_"__Habeas corpus," _said Yubel, appearing beside Jaden. Looking down at him, she continued, _"It's Latin for 'may you have the body,' and it's a legal action that requires an arrested person to be brought before a judge. The gist of it's to prevent people from being detained unlawfully, which I think would've been fair to say could've happened to you."_

"I'm not in the mood Yubel," Jaden replied, rather bluntly. It wasn't really _her _fault; he wasn't in the mood to talk to _anybody_ right now. Not after his friends had seen the atrocities he'd committed. After the biggest skeleton in his closet had just been revealed to them, how was he ever supposed to look them in the eye and act like the same old Jaden again? What was the answer to that?

_"__You look unhappy," _Yubel spoke again.

"I _am _unhappy," Jaden replied curtly. He turned over on the bed to signify their conversation was done, just like back at Duel Academy.

Yubel didn't give up. _"Want to talk about it?" _she asked as gently as she could. Jaden looked over at her, wondering what her deal was.

"No," he said, more gently this time.

_"__You can't keep all this bottled up," _the spirit warned, _"It's unhealthy, and it'll have bad consequences for you if you don't tell someone. Now, I'm offering to help by listening to your woes, but I can't do my job as your guardian if you don't meet me halfway. Please," _she coaxed, _"Ever since we got home after the last time we were here, you've acted like you're trying to create distance between us. I'm on your side Jaden, so please tell me what's going on." _When she got no response from the boy, she decided to take a risk and pry. _"It's because they're here, isn't it?"_

"Enough," came the reply. "Stop it."

Yubel tensed; a response at last. _"You can't solve your problems by shutting me out. If you just talk to me instead of shutting me up, I can help you, and I _want _to help you, so please."_

Jaden turned back over to look at her. She was being serious; she _genuinely _wanted to help him. He pondered it for a moment; she _was _his guardian, after all, and it _was _her job to ensure his mental, physical and emotional health.

"Fine," he sighed, "Let's talk about it." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and began to search his thoughts for the right place to start. Yubel saw him try to form a sentence a few times, and so she took the reins.

_"__How do you feel?"_ she asked.

"Lousy." Yubel's eyebrows shot up upon hearing Jaden say that one word. It wasn't the word itself of course that surprised her, but the tone; low and rumbling, with anger behind it.

_"__You sound angry."_

Jaden looked down. "I _am _angry," he admitted.

Yubel tensed; she had a bad feeling about where this was going; Jaden would tell her that he was mad at her for all that she'd done earlier in the year by transporting everyone to that alternate dimension, and then possessing Jesse and using him as a vessel to Duel Jaden through, not to mention turning him into Haou and causing him to go down a dark road. But what she heard instead surprised her.

"I'm angry at myself," Jaden admitted. Yubel breathed a faint enough sigh of relief to escape his detection. Jaden paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "I'm angry at myself because I got into this mess last time we were here. I neglected my friends, and because of that they ended up being sacrificed." Jaden hung his head for a moment. Before Yubel could speak, his head shot back up. "How the hell could I _do _that to them, Yubel? I was supposed to be the guy they could rely on to make everything better. All I had to do was listen to them and none of this would've happened. I…" he paused. "All I had to do was listen to those who needed me; to just _hold on _for a second and turn around to make sure everyone was with me when we were riding the ducks; to join Jim and Axel when they went looking for everyone else when they didn't show up at Brron's fort." He looked up differently. "And you know what? Maybe all I had to do was send you up in the exact same space capsule that I sent Neos and the rest up in, or maybe even not send you up at all and try to work things out with you." Jaden lowered his head to about five inches away from his knees and held his head in his hands.

"_So _many things I could've done differently, that I _should've _done differently. But instead of realizing when I fucked up, I just kept going until all of a sudden I was the Supreme King and now I'm here again, being put on trial because of all I did during that time. _I fucking killed _people, Yubel! That's not me!" Jaden paused again. "But it _was_ me, because I'm too _fucking _stupid to learn from my mistakes." He ended that last sentence bitterly and hostile, surprising Yubel at the degree to which her charge held himself in contempt. But he still had more to say.

"I hate myself, Yubel. I hate myself for not realizing when I was hurting my friends and for continuing to hurt people even after I was supposed to stop. And now that it's all over, I keep feeling that I've fucked up too much to deserve the people who I called my friends, and now to make up for it, I have to protect them with every fiber of my being."

_"__But all you did was sit around in your room and refuse their company. You even drove them away," _Yubel pointed out matter-of-factly. Jaden's logic wasn't making any sense.

"Don't you get it?" Jaden asked, "That's _how _I protect them; I have to answer for what I did as the Supreme King. Not just to this court, not just to my friends… but to myself. Because I took so many lives away, I have to preserve _their_ lives at all cost. But since I only ended up hurting them, I have to keep myself away from them so that I don't hurt them again. It's the least I can do after that whole mishap." Jaden looked back up towards Yubel. "I don't deserve those people Yubel. So now, to punish myself for my actions, I have to watch over them from a distance."

Yubel's face softened, a pang of guilt running through her heart; Jaden never would have hurt his friends if she hadn't gone as far as she did. She saw now that when he hurt his friends, he hurt himself. But there was something else that was bothering her charge; she sensed misery and longing, floating around like plasma in a lava lamp, or that Duel Energy she had Viper harness for her in the beginning of the year.

_"__It's more than that, isn't it?" _she asked, _"I mean, there _is _more, because I sense more. There's misery and there's longing, and… Oh my God," _Yubel said when it hit her, _"You _miss _them."_

Jaden was still for a moment before his face scrunched up. "I _do,_" he whined, "I'm miserable and lonely and I'd give _anything_ to be with them again. But if I do, it'll only be a matter of time before I hurt them again, so that's why I have to stay away from them."

Yubel closed her eyes and nodded. This was exactly like her charge, concerned for the safety of those he cared about. But just like she'd said before, she still sensed more. There was something else that was bothering Jaden concerning _her _specifically, and she wanted to know so that she could do something about it.

_"__There's more," _she repeated, _"I still sense more. There's something bothering you. Something about _me _Jaden, and I want to know what it is. Please, if you tell me then maybe there's something I can do about it."_

"There isn't," Jaden retorted. Yubel waited eagerly.

"There's nothing you can do about this, because it pertains to me. Well, both of us really. It's just that I remember getting startled whenever you appeared beside me without warning, and even though I eventually got used to that, there's still the fact that whenever I have a thought or try to get some personal time alone to myself so that I can think, there you are, giving your input. Not that that's a bad thing of course, I mean there will definitely be times where I'll need your help, but it's just that my thoughts aren't entirely _mine _anymore; every time I have a thought, you'll be able to hear it and respond to it; my thoughts aren't entirely mine like they used to be, and sometimes, well, I need them to be."

Yubel frowned. He was right about that. The two of them had only been fused for a month, and even though he'd communicated with her in this manner before, he really hadn't thought about what fusing with her would mean. She was there in his every thought, from the most serious to the most mundane, interrupting his train of thought. Often when he was thinking about his friends, Yubel would suddenly appear there too. Her hearing every word that came through his mind meant his thoughts were no longer entirely his; they weren't private anymore. A person's thoughts were words, opinions and feelings they could keep to themselves, but Jaden no longer had that luxury.

But in regards to dealing with the matter, Yubel was right about discussing it. It was between the two of them after all and this was the best way to get it over with. _"This is all still pretty new for you, huh?" _she asked. Jaden nodded.

_"__Well, if it's any consolation, it's all still new for me too. We'll be going through things together from now on, so I'll understand that there are some things about our union that you need to adjust to. And as for your thoughts, I never meant to invade your privacy, so I'll try to give it to you from now on."_

Jaden looked up at her. "Thank you."

_"__You're welcome."_

Jaden looked downward this time. Yubel sensed it coming. _"What is it now?" _she asked.

He looked up at her again. "Don't take this the wrong way Yubel, but… I'm gonna keep you a secret from the others." He looked up at her for signs of indignation, and was both surprised and relieved when he saw none.

_"__I understand," _the spirit replied.

Jaden reflected on it. "It's just that, with what you did and all, they assumed I destroyed you or sent you away or something. If they find out that I fused us rather than get rid of you…"

_"__You're worried they'll take it badly."_

"Exactly."

_"__I understand."_

"You do?"

_"__Yes. You're right about all that I did, so I can't really take offense to it. And I don't, so I'm okay with being kept a secret."_

"Thank you for understanding."

_"__Thank you for opening up."_

Jaden looked towards the wall. "It's just that… the reason I want to keep you a secret Yubel is also part of something larger. Before I fused with you, I knew without question that I was human, and now that we're fused, it's like… what does that make me now? Am I _still_ human, or am I a demon now like you?" He removed his hands from his head and looked back up at the spirit, full of anguish. "And what about the fact that I'm a reincarnated prince from another world? Doesn't that make me an alien? And on top of that, I now have all these strange powers. It's like, what do I do with them Yubel? I can't just tell my friends I became a reincarnated prince from another world with the powers of darkness. I mean, how are they supposed to react to that?"

Yubel's jaw dropped. So _this _was it.

Jaden continued. "They'll have questions. They'll want to know _how _I became this person, and to tell the truth, I'll have to tell them about you, and if I do that, they'll be freaked out and angry with me. And on top of that, once they see what I can do, they'll flip, or even if they don't, they'll recognize me as something totally different than what I was. I won't be the same; I won't be one of them anymore."

The both of them existed in silence as they recalled Jaden's earlier words in the dorm room that day: _I don't belong here anymore._

Jaden closed his eyes and held his head in his hand. Not knowing what he was was confusing, depressing and alienating all at once, and even a little scary. He wanted answers. He wanted the comfort of knowing what he was. But what he wanted most of all was to just go up to his friends, say hi and have everything be the way it was again without any problems. And the dread of not knowing what the court would do to him after they found him guilty unsettled him even more.

He opened his eyes with a start when he found two arms wrapping around him in a warm embrace. He looked up and his mouth hung open as he saw Yubel hugging him.

_"__Shhhhhh," _Yubel hushed gently, _"It's okay. I know you're troubled right now, but you need to know some things. You're a wonderful person, Jaden. You care about people. You feel no greater pain than to see others in agony. You have a heart, the biggest heart I've ever encountered, and it's your heart as well as your soul, whether you count them individually or separately that make you more human than your origins ever will. Ever hear the words humane and inhumane?"_

"Yeah."

_"__You know what they both mean, Jaden. But what you probably don't realize about those words is that they reflect a widely-held view about humanity: it's not just about biology, Jaden. It's about how you treat people. And I know that your actions as the Supreme King are fresh on your mind. I know that all too well. You think those actions make you horrid and despicable, but they do one thing above all else."_

"What's that?"

Yubel looked into his eyes and smiled. _"They show that you're flawed, Jaden. And being flawed is a big part of being human. You just need to accept that your flaws make you who you are just as much as your strengths. Okay?" _

Jaden looked up back at her. "Okay. Thanks Yubel."

Yubel nodded. _"You're welcome. I'll give you some alone time now." _And with that, she disappeared, leaving her charge to consider her words.

Jaden's hands hung between his legs as he considered all Yubel told him. He remembered how things used to be. He remembered how obsessed he'd become with finding Jesse after the other boy had been left behind and how that had led to the others being sacrificed. He remembered all that he did as the Supreme King, and how much he hated himself because of it.

As Jaden remembered his terrible actions that occurred during his terrible reign, he heard strumming. _Huh? What's going on? _he wondered. He noticed a small rectangular hole in the wall two feet above him.

Standing on his bed, he looked through the hole and saw a wretched-looking inmate strumming a guitar. _Of course, _Jaden thought, _I'm not the only one in this prison._

He sat back down on his bed, the sound of strumming prominent in his ears. He recognized the song being played: it was an old song by Bob Dylan called "Masters of War." And as Jaden listened to the song, all his guilt and self-loathing returned, along with all the horrid memories that caused them.

_"__Come you masters of war…"_

His army standing before him, saluting him and shouting _"Hail Haou!"_

_"__You that build the big guns…"_

Amassing more and more of that army.

_"__You that build the death planes…"_

His soldiers flying around on dragons, looking for more people to find and bring to him.

_"__You that build all the bombs…"_

His soldiers catapulting fireballs across the lines of enemy strongholds, incinerating them along with any inhabitants.

_"__You that hide behind walls…"_

Going back into the tower after Axel had run away, saying he was only interested in warriors who would fight.

_"__You that hide behind desks…"_

Standing at the mouth of his castle, looking at the surroundings while his army did his dirty work.

_"__I just want you to know I can see through your masks."_

Jaden realized it: he could hide from his friends, but he couldn't hide from himself.

_"__You that never done nothin'…"_

Memories of sitting at his throne as his army waged his war outside the tower.

_"__But build to destroy…"_

Having his soldiers build catapults and make weapons to fight and kill.

_"__You play with my world…"_

Establishing an empire that spanned across the dimension.

_"…__like it's your little toy…"_

Crushing all the hopes and dreams of those who tried to resist him.

_"__You put a gun in my hand…"_

Memories of holding Super Polymerization in his hand as Haou convinced him to let him take over.

_"__And you hide from my eyes…"_

Trying to resist Jim and Axel's efforts to set him free.

_"__And you turn and run farther when the fast bullets fly."_

Insisting that nothing could be done to set him free when Jim and Axel gained the upper hand.

_"__Like Judas of old, you lie and deceive…"_

Being told by Haou that all would be better again.

_"__A world war can be won, you want me to believe…"_

More memories of his soldiers chanting _"Hail Haou!"_

_"__But I see through your eyes…"_

Jim's words: _"Those eyes are your eyes!"_

_"__And I see through your brain…"_

Jim and Axel inside his mind trying to help him.

_"__Like I see through the water that runs down my drain."_

Jaden stopped remembering here and looked at a drain in the middle of the cell.

_"__You fasten all the triggers…"_

Memories of activating Super Polymerization and Summoning his Evil Hero Fusion Monsters.

_"…__for the others to fire…"_

His Evil Hero Fusion Monsters attacking and destroying his opponents.

_"__And then you sit back and watch…"_

Observing people being brought to pits of magma surrounding his tower.

_"__While the death count gets higher…"_

Standing by and watching as the people were thrown in screaming, one by one.

_"__You hide in your mansion…"_

Seeing his soldiers commit all these atrocities while standing high in his tower.

_"__While the young people's blood…"_

Blood being spilled.

_"__Flows outta their bodies and is buried in the mud."_

People's blood flowing out of them and hitting the ground, mixing in with the mud and creating dark-colored cesspools.

_"__You've thrown the worst fear…"_

Staring down frightened children.

_"__That can ever be hurled…"_

Seeing one of his soldiers standing on top of a child, crushing it to death with his boot.

_"__Fear to bring children… into the world…"_

The farmer's memories of a soldier taking his pregnant wife into their house.

_"__Above threatening my baby…"_

The woman's pleas to be spared along with her child.

_"__Unborn and unnamed…"_

The woman's cries of pain as her unborn child was sliced through with his soldier's blade.

_"__You ain't worth the blood that runs in your veins."_

No. No he was not.

_"__How much do I know, and to talk out of turn… you might say that I'm young, you might say I'm unlearned… but there's one thing I know… I'm younger than you…"_

Jaden stopped remembering and looked around the cell, stopping to look at a cross high up on the wall of the cell.

_"__That even Jesus would never forgive what you do."_

No. No he wouldn't.

_"__Let me ask you one question… is your money that good?"_

No. He'd never be able to convince anyone that he was a good guy ever again.

_"__Will it buy you forgiveness? Do you think that it could?"_

No and no.

_"__I think you will find… when you death takes its toll…"_

Zane showing all his former soldiers his helmet, indicating he'd fallen.

_"__All the money you made will never buy back your soul."_

Knowing the fact that he'd never think of himself the same way again. He was an irredeemable piece of shit.

_"__And I hope that you die… and your death will come soon…"_

Jaden stopped remembering now and put his face in his hands, resigning himself to what the lyrics told him.

_"__I'll follow your casket… on a pale afternoon…"_

Jaden imagined someone-an angel of vengeance perhaps-doing just that.

_"__And I'll watch while you're lowered… down to your deathbed…"_

Again, an angel of vengeance doing just that.

_"__And I'll stand over your grave 'till I'm sure that you're dead."_

The inmate in the next cell strummed the last few bars of his song as the angel of vengeance in Jaden's imagination did just as the last lyrics described. He held his head in his hands, feeling guilty and hating himself every second for all that he'd done as the Supreme King. Yubel's comforts did what they could, but they lost the battle to the constant reminders of all his horrid misdeeds and the feeling that he was an irredeemable, lowlife piece of shit.

"Let's go asshole," Jaden suddenly heard a rapping of a stick against the bars of his cell. He looked up to see the guard putting his keys into the lock to open the cell.

"Fifteen minute recess is up," he said, opening the cell and walking over to collect Jaden. "I hope you've said your prayers…"

# # #

When the Brave Wanderer returned to fetch them, Bastion opened his mouth and said the words he'd told the others he'd say and the arrangements were quickly made; Syrus and Alexis' testimonies would be moved back so he could say his piece. As the rest of the group bid another temporary farewell to Ophelia Rayne, the intellectually gifted youth and his girlfriend shivered against the Ice Breeze as they found their seats between Alexis and Kenzan. "How's Jaden holding up?" he asked his fellow Ra.

"See for yourself," came the reply as the thick, heavy iron doors swung open and Freed the Matchless General and Charubin the Fire Knight escorted their man down the courtroom aisle.

For Bastion, Tania and the Duel Academy students, everything seemed to slow down and proceed in slow-motion: the Matchless General and Charubin, a burly hand in a firm grip around each arm, leading a compliant, silent Jaden past the mix of faces displaying largely anger and the set of them displaying a few other emotions. Bastion caught a glimpse of the redcoat adjusting his wrists within the clearly uncomfortable metal shackles around them as drops of freshly-applied cold water dripped off him. _Jesus H. Christ Jaden, _he thought, shaking his head a little, _What the bloody hell have you gotten yourself into?_

He stiffened as Jaden stumbled and fell, igniting a small chorus of laughter. Bastion breathed in deeply, trying to calm his temper at the sight of his friend's mistreatment.

His attempts failed as the older Freed reached down and grabbed him forcefully by the collar. "Get _up, _you _dog," _he snarled, shoving Jaden with more force than was clearly necessary. Bastion narrowed his eyes as he tried to keep his emotions in check. Being the logical, methodical and emotionally restrained person he was, his attempt succeeded.

The Brave Wanderer glared at his brother, who shoved Jaden into a seat without bothering to acknowledge it before going back to his own. Here he was trying to prove they weren't barbarians and there the older Freed went, proving that very point. _Calm down, _he thought to himself, _Your goal isn't to defeat your brother. Your goal is to keep Jaden Yuki from getting the chair._

He sat down in his seat. He felt grateful for Bastion Misawa: that boy had arrived right when he had gone through more than half his character witnesses. Now that he was here, he could help them win this case.

He stood up for the arrival of Judge Man, who sat down and banged his gavel. "Be seated," he boomed. As everyone sat down, he turned to the Brave Wanderer and said, "The defense has the floor."

"Thank you Your Honor," said the Brave Wanderer, standing up. "The defense calls Bastion Misawa to the stand."

Jaden's eyes shot up. He hadn't expected this.

Bastion got up and headed toward the stand. When he passed Jaden, he saw the redcoat give him a confused look. In response, Bastion gave him a comforting smile and a wave before walking over to the bench, sitting down and reciting the oath.

The Brave Wanderer walked over to Bastion. "Mr. Misawa," he asked, beginning the same line of questions he'd used for the rest, "What is your relationship to the defendant?"

"We're friends."

"And how did you two become friends?"

"We met at the entrance exam to get into Duel Academy. He congratulated me for a 'tight Duel,' as I recall."

"I see. Mr. Misawa, you came up to me and claimed that you were with the defendant for a short while after he was restored to his right mind from his Duel with Mr. Brodie. Can you perhaps tell the court what happened during this time?"

"I can," replied Bastion, "As I recall, Jaden was at Brron's fort, standing over the remains of his Duel with the Mad King. From what I recall, he seemed haunted by what he'd done."

"BULLSHIT!" came a yell from the side of the setup where a scowling, red-faced man was standing up and pointing at Bastion. "A bunch of fucking _bullshit! _I lost my family to that asshole, so don't give me that 'he was haunted' shit!"

"Order in the court," boomed Judge Man, banging his gavel.

"Haou's a monster, he deserves to die! Anything else is too good for him!"

"Bailiff, take that man away!"

"You can't do this!" shouted the man as the bailiff grabbed him by the arms and led him toward the iron doors, "Death to Haou! Kill that monster! Anything else is too good!" His shouts were silenced as the doors were shut.

From the man's disruption, a chorus of murmurs had broken out among the rest of the observers. Judge Man banged his gavel, effectively getting them back under control by booming "Order in the Court," one more time. Bastion took note of how easily Judge Man brought the situation back under control without raising his voice or banging his gavel excessively hard. "Continue please, Mr. Misawa," he said to Bastion.

"Certainly Your Honor," the British youth replied. "Jaden was Dueling a former underling of his, Guardian Baou I believe, and he narrowly won without fusing as during the Duel, he was unwilling to use Polymerization to fuse. Actually, you know what?" He beckoned over the muse. "I think a memory-testimony would be better."

The muse placed her hand over his head and a memory cloud appeared, displaying Bastion's memories of that time.

In the memory, he placed his hand on Syrus' shoulder, startling the younger boy. _"Syrus, it's me," _he told him. _"Bastion?"_

_"__So how's Jaden doing these days? We heard that he turned himself into some sort of dark and evil ruler."_

_"__Bastion," _said Tania, _"He certainly isn't playing the part very well. He doesn't look like he's ruler of anything."_

_"__He's not the King," _Memory-Syrus pointed out, _"At least not anymore, but he's still haunted by all the dark memories, and he's losing because of it!"_

Memory-Bastion and Tania looked shocked. _"He's _losing?_"_

_"__That's right Bastion, and he doesn't have a chance. You see, he's afraid to use any Fusion cards because of all the destruction they caused when he _was _the Supreme King. If he doesn't play one now, he'll lose."_

They saw Memory-Jaden struggling to select a card in his hand. Ojama Yellow went over and took a look. Surprised, he came back over. _"I peekabooed over his shoulder! Jaden's holding the Polymerization card right there in his hand!"_

Memory-Bastion and Tania exchanged looks. _"Then what's he waiting for?" _asked Bastion, _"An invite?"_

_"__When he was the Supreme King," _explained Memory-Syrus, _"He did some messed-up things with that card, and he still feels bad about using it."_

Memory-Jaden looked back at them. _"I'm stuck," _he said.

_"__Well then I'd recommend unstucking yourself, Jaden," _replied Memory-Bastion, _"You know what to do."_

_"__Use Polymerization," _urged Memory-Tania.

_"__C'mon Jaden! Out with it!" _urged Bastion, as Jaden slowly reached for the card. _"There you go! Do it!"_

But instead of playing it, Jaden discarded it. _"I send Polymerization to my Graveyard!"_

_"__What? What's _that _supposed to accomplish?" _asked Tania.

_"__Jaden!" _Bastion's voice sounded as if it were a scold.

_"__He can't do it," _said Memory-Syrus, _"He just can't."_

_"__I activate the Revoke Fusion Spell Card!" _Memory-Jaden announced.

**Revoke Fusion**:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Send 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon 1 of its Fusion Material Monsters from your hand.**

_"__This lets me send one Fusion Monster to my Graveyard, which then allows me to Summon one of its Fusion Material Monsters from my hand. So I'll send Elemental Hero Wildedge to the Graveyard. In its place, I Summon Elemental Hero Bladedge!"_

**Elemental Hero Bladedge (EARTH):**

**Level 7**

**[Warrior/Effect]**

**This card deals piercing damage against Defense Position monsters.**

**ATK/ 2600 DEF/ 1800**

_"__With Bladedge on the field," _Memory-Jaden continued, _"I activate the Hero Mask Spell Card. Using this card, if I send Avian to my Graveyard, then Bladedge gets some double-duty powers! He gets Avian's and he keeps his own!"_

**Hero Mask:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Select 1 face-up monster you control: send 1 "Elemental Hero" monster from your Deck to the Graveyard and treat the selected monster's name as its name until the End Phase.**

_"__And since he's got Avian's power," _continued Memory-Jaden, _"I activate Feather Shot!"_

**Feather Shot:**

**Normal Spell Card**

**Select 1 face-up "Elemental Hero Avian" you control to activate this card: this turn, the selected card can attack as many times as the number of monsters you control when this card resolves. It cannot attack directly and your other monsters cannot attack.**

_"__Bladedge, show him some slice and dice action!" _Memory-Jaden commanded. Bladedge did so, destroying Baou's Fiendslime Mold and bring Baou's Life Points down from 3000 to 900.

_"__Stupid me," _Baou grimaced. _"I was too busy mocking you to build a good defense. Well that's about to change."_

_"__You missed your chance," _Memory-Jaden told him, _"Or don't you know how Feather Shot works? It lets Avian attack equal to the number of monsters on my field. And since Bladedge has Avian's powers, he gets to roll in all the Spell Card goodness. Translation: he can attack again!"_

_"__But I…" _Baou began.

_"__No chance!" _rebuked Memory-Jaden, _"Bladedge, send this chump to the stars!" _

Following his command, Bladedge attacked and destroyed Twin-Headed Beast, wiping out the rest of Baou's Life Points, sending the Guardian monster flying backwards.

Despite his loss, Baou began to chuckle. _"You're still ruthless," _he observed, _"Even at your weakest, your true nature is still that of the Supreme King." _With that, he faded away.

_"__Well done, Jay!" _congratulated Bastion as he and Tania walked toward him.

_"__Huh? Thanks Bastion. I'm really glad you're safe."_

_"__And sound," _added Memory-Tania, _"We managed to save the realm we were in. The enemy was routed, order was restored, and our friends are okay. But the fight isn't done. We won the battle, but out enemy may still win the war."_

_"__That's right," _nodded Bastion, _"If we don't stop the one behind all of this, then we're all pretty much cooked."_

_"__Okay," _said Memory-Jaden, _"So what do we do? Who's behind all this? Have you guys figured that out yet?"_

Memory-Bastion nodded. _"Indeed we have. Now then, let me try to explain what this is."_

Using some rocks, Memory-Bastion explained that their world was split into twelve dimensions, who the person behind everything planned to unite so that they may rule them all.

_"__So how do we stop this?" _asked Memory-Jaden, _"Is somebody making all this happen?"_

_"__The same person who controlled Viper and Marcel and came after you Jaden," _said Memory-Bastion, _"It's Yubel."_

_"__Of course," _Memory-Jaden replied, _"Yubel. So this _is _all my fault." _

_"__Just get a grip," _said Memory-Bastion, _"It's not your fault. Did you make Yubel evil? You most certainly did not. Did you ask Yubel to try taking over the universe? No. If anything, your special powers are the key to stopping Yubel."_

_"__Yeah right. Except, I don't have any special powers, Bastion."_

_"__Yes you do," _replied Memory-Tania, _"Maybe you're not aware of them, but Yubel's after something. Think about it: the powers you had when you were the Supreme King? Those didn't come from nowhere."_

_"__Okay," _said Memory-Jaden, _"But… if that's the case, these powers… _I _don't have them. The Supreme King does."_

_"__Listen," _said Memory-Bastion, _"You won't like it but… you and the Supreme King? You're two sides of the same coin. You're the same person; the Supreme King is somewhere inside of you."_

Memory-Jaden turned away. _"No way."_

Memory-Bastion grabbed his arm, a little forcefully. _"You feel bad about everything that you did? Well then, this is your chance to do something, to put right what you made wrong. Sure the Supreme King part of you is strong and powerful, but if you learn to control it, that power is yours!"_

_"__So you're saying I have to be him again?" _asked Memory-Jaden, _"But… he's merciless." _He shook his head. _"I can't do it, guys!"_

_"__You're not getting it!" _said Memory-Bastion, _"You already _are _the Supreme King, like it or not! But as long as you're still scared of that part of you, you'll never be the great Duelist you were meant to be!"_

At this point, the muse took her hand off Bastion's head. The Brave Wanderer thanked him. "No further questions, Your Honor." He sat down, and his brother came up.

"Mr. Misawa," he said, "During his Duel with Baou, the defendant was hesitant to play Polymerization and fuse, but you urged him toward it when you knew that as the Supreme King he used it to kill over a quarter of our population. Why did you do this?"

"Because Fusion Monsters are how Jaden wins all his Duels," explained Bastion.

"So there was never a Duel besides this one where the defendant won without fusing?"

"Well… no," Bastion admitted. "During our freshman year, Jaden and I were pitted against each other to find out who would be our school's representative for a Duel between our school and North Academy. He won there too, and without fusing."

"So knowing this, you urged him to fuse?"

Bastion's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't urging him to become evil again, if that's what you're insinuating."

"You weren't urging him to become evil again, yet you encouraged him to obtain Haou's power," replied the Matchless General in a scrutinizing tone.

"Because I knew it was the one thing that could stop Yubel," Bastion retorted, one step ahead. "Sure, that power killed a quarter of your population. But it's also what stopped her and saved the rest of it. So yes Sir Freed, I encouraged Jaden to harness the same power that committed atrocities so that it could go the opposite way and ensure that nobody _else _was killed."

The Duel Academy students and their friends brightened up. At last, a turn for the better. "Wow. That Bastion guy does good work," admired Jesse.

"That's Bastion for you," said Alexis, "Quick-witted as always."

The Matchless General took a look at the crowd. He knew that they'd be more reluctant now to prosecute Haou now that they'd seen this mans' memory-testimony. "No further questions Your Honor," he said as he walked back to his seat.

Smiles broke out all through the group of Jaden's friends. Thanks to Bastion, they'd have their friend back soon. Even the Brave Wanderer was grinning from ear to ear. "Well done!" he said, clapping Bastion on the back and shaking his hand. The British boy nodded and returned to his seat, where his friends gave him more accolades.

Jaden was the only one who wasn't smiling. Even if Bastion's testimony went a huge way towards getting him off the chair, there were still three more people left to testify. And the Matchless General could easily use their testimonies against him.

The Matchless General was thinking the same thing himself. _Just you wait Haou, _he thought venomously, _I'll make _sure _you get the punishment you deserve! You won't walk away from this! Not as long as I'm around!_

The Brave Wanderer looked back towards the blonde female student. _Are you ready? _he mouthed. Alexis gave him the nod, which he reciprocated.

"Right then," the Brave Wanderer cleared his throat, "The defense calls Alexis Rhodes to the stand."

"Go get 'em, Alexis!" Syrus encouraged her. The taller girl smiled and thanked him before standing up to approach the bench.

_Alright, _she thought nervously, _Here goes._

With great apprehension, she put her right foot forward, taking her first step towards the bench.


End file.
